Affirmation and Affliction
by ByAGhost
Summary: Sasuke smirked, and she shivered where she stood. He was an enigma, a mystery, she didn't know how to handle him, or how to act whenever he was around. He made her question herself, and for that she felt threatened. "I want to know your secrets, Sakura." He whispered, and she gulped loudly. Was she going to let him in? To let him see what no one else had? Highschool AU, Sasusaku
1. Chapter 1 - Fatal Encounter

What's up guys? I'm going to start by saying that this is my first story ever published on here, ironically enough. I've actually been around for ages here on fanfic, and now we talking _years._ However, I've never had the guts to ever convert from just a reader to one of the authors. I kind of find it a big deal...? I don't know how many of you have been through my type of deal, but I'm willing to bet most of you can relate to it being nervewracking when it comes to posting your first story. You keep asking yourself, will someone read it? Will someone drop a comment on whether or not its interesting or just plain crap? Yes? No? These are questions I keep asking myself _all the time,_ and I haven't even published a story yet, lmao. Until now, of course.

So, I hope those that take the time to read, will enjoy it to at least some part. This story already has its plot finished, and I got many more chapters to come, with lots of plot twits and action. even though it might not be liked all too much, I'm still going to keep posting chapters regularly. I'm not one to leave a story uncompleted, because that's just a shitty feeling for both the author and the reader. Completing a story is one of the best feelings out there, don't you agree?

Before you all begin to read, I want to say that this story was madly inspired by GreenRoseRegalia and her story Aftereffect. I was literally _obsessed_ with her story, so I highly suggest you go read it. It's amazing.

For those that don't know, this is an AU Highschool Sasusaku story, because that's where the most drama tends to be.

Anyway, on with the story!

 **Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing but the plot.

Introducing,

* * *

 **Affirmation and Affliction**

 _It has begun,_

 _Into the dark below,_

 _Evading shadows._

 ** _\- Starset_**

* * *

 **Chapter One - Fatal Encounter**

Outside it was foggy, the mist drawing in between buildings, making it impossible to spy even five feet ahead. Barely there contours of buildings and light flickering of lights were the only signs of the city. While everyone was huddled up in their comfortable beds, sleeping peacefully, there were those few that did not.

Instead, those few people where plagued, _haunted_ , by tragic terrors and sorrowful pasts. Those few people weren't able to escape their own hell, for every time they closed their eyes… The internal nightmares of their reality begun.

 _The scream echoed throughout the house, scaring the girl to her very core, her body tense and shaking from the fear that was coursing through its system. Her eyes were wide open, with silent tears running freely down her cheeks. Only a minute ago had she been in the embrace of her mother, being told that everything was fine - but that embrace ended quickly when she was forcefully ripped away from the secure warmth of her mother's hug. And just seconds ago, had her innocent mind been exposed to the unfathomable cruelty of the life on Earth, for she had been forced to witness how her mother screamed in pain when a knife dug into her back, her form crippling to the floor and falling with a dull thud. Three shadows loomed over her then, ready to end her life as well, however - they were called off by the man leading them before they managed to do anything that would have been irreversible._

" _Leave her." He had said, his voice deep and demanding._

" _She is not worth the trouble."_

 _His piercing gaze then met hers, and they interlocked into a staring contest. None of them disengaged, partly because her emerald orbs were stunned into silence. Even if she did want to turn her gaze away, she found it impossible._

 _A few more seconds passed by before he finally twisted his eyes away from her, and turned his back to head towards the door. The darkhaired man flicked his hand to his subordinates, signalling them to leave. They all walked out the front door as if nothing was wrong, as if they had just been here on a friendly visit._

 _But it was all but friendly._

 _However, the little pinkette didn't register that he or his henchmen left, even when the door shut with a loud bang, emphasizing their departure, for her mind was still stuck on the fact that his eyes… they had been the colour of red._

 _Since the group had departed, and she was still breathing, meant that apparently no harm would come to her. He had stated it actually, but it did not ease her in the slightest. Instead, she walked over to her mother's body, sinking to her knees and grabbing a hold of it. She shook her mother, believing that if she shook her enough times then maybe she would finally respond, and wake up from her 'sleep'. She refused to give in to the fact that her mother was gone, really, actually gone, as in inevitable gone._

 _Her silent crying turned into full blown sobs that wracked her body like waves when her attempts turned to be fruitless. She lied down and curled up to her mother's side, the still warm body nothing but a morbid remembrance that she had once been alive, and breathing._

Sakura shot up in rapid speed, her breath hitching and eyes on the verge of tears. Her chest was heaving, and every intake of breath was a challenge. She grasped at her chest with her hands, trying to calm the furious pounding of her heart and ease the pressuring pain, for her chest was coiled tight, _painfully so_ , from the feelings of guilt and ache at the _complete_ abandonment that she was currently feeling. She knew this procedure well, because it was the afterglow of her nightmares, they always left her in such a state - always on the verge of a panic attack. She let out a shaky breath, her body tilting slightly forward.

 _It was that dream again._

It had been some time since she had relived _that_ particular dream, before it had just been… lesser nightmares, none featuring her mother's death. The scream however, had always been present, but the scene itself differed. Sometimes it would just be the shadows of the leader's henchmen looming over her or a continuance of what the men would've done if he hadn't called them off. The scene where her mother got stabbed had somehow been avoided whenever the nightmares occurred, which happened _at least_ once a week. The remaining days that weren't affected by the nightly terrors, just contained sleepless nights, and for that she was thankful, even if the thought of being _thankful_ for not getting _sleep_ was somewhat… disturbing.

She sighed and wiped her pink tresses from her face, feeling the moist texture of her hair. It was dripping wet, and Sakura frowned at the discovering. Grabbing a tassel and twisting the tresses up into a messy bun, left her sighing at the relief of not having to have the wet hair slapping her in the face anymore.

Sakura then slowly rose up from her leaning position in her bed, silently as to not wake her sleeping friend, Ino. Hinata was only a couple doors down, bunking with someone else, so there was no worry to waken her other friend inside the building. And it was a relief, to have Hinata bunk with someone other than her, for unlike Ino, Hinata would just break down as well at seeing her in such a low state.

Ino, however… She knew Ino would pity her if she had woken up to her nightly terrors, and Sakura just couldn't stand seeing the guilt and the pity in her best friend's eyes. She didn't need pity, and she didn't need to see the guilt and regret in her friend's face whenever her nightmares occurred.

Ino held grief over the fact that she wasn't there when Sakura needed her the most, and the pinkette knew she was beating herself up over it. That's why she rather have Ino being sound asleep than awake to witness her pinkhaired friend at her lowest. It was better that way.

A stray thought of possibly catching some more much needed sleep got her to glance at the clock that was situated on the nightstand between the beds.

It read 05:00 AM.

… Which meant it was still early in the morning. _Very_ early, but still too late, ironically enough. She let out another sigh.

So much for the idea of catching some more sleep.

There was no way that she would be able to fall back asleep now, not when she was due to wake up in two hours anyway. The first day at KHS, Konoha High School, was today, and she admitted to herself that she was a little nervous. The place was unfamiliar to her, she didn't know the rules or the social norms of the students there. All she knew was that it was a rich kid's school, and that just scared her all the more, for she wasn't rich.

She wasn't like Hinata who was an heir to the Hyuuga family, and she certainly wasn't like Ino… A Yamanaka with looks that bordered on insane perfection and a personality that allured pretty much anyone she talked to. Her family was part of the business world, and one of the most successful ones out there. Sakura however… She was just a simple ordinary human being who only got in because of her godmother's help, because of Tsunade.

She lent Sakura her aid and gave her the opportunity to follow her dreams. Her mother had gone to KHS, and so, she had set out the goal to follow in her footsteps. The _only_ reason she was at KHS, was simply because of the generosity of her godmother, nothing more, and nothing less.

' _There's absolutely nothing special about me…'_

She ended that train of thought before it got any longer. Thinking like that lead to nowhere, it would only give her more reasons to despise herself for, and she believed she has enough of those already.

Besides that KHS was a rich man's school, another scare factor for her was that they were freshmen - newbies. There were rumours that freshmen were the targets for the sophomores and seniors to play pranks on… And Sakura preferred _not_ being a victim for some rich brats looking for fun. No way, it wasn't going to happen, _ever._

Or so she told herself. But she, to her misery _,_ had this _uncanny_ affinity for bad luck, which probably would bring her to some sort of demise anyway.

 _And that was guaranteed._

Thirdly and lastly, the thought of them being _freshmen,_ only brought forth the fact that, once again, they would have to relive being the first graders all over again, and it left Sakura feeling bittersweet.

The hierarchy of high schools was something she resented but also knew was inevitable. It was natural to sort the weakest from the strongest, it lies in the human genetic code. But still,

 _It didn't make it the more right._

Sakura just hoped she wouldn't find herself at the bottom of the figurative ladder. But knowing Ino and how she could be, the possibility of being placed there was _very_ slim. She appreciated it, really, and quite honestly, it was one of the many reasons why she liked being Ino's best friend so much, the benefits were just too great. And of course, the fact that Ino also practically was the sister she never had was another reason behind their friendship. Their bond goes all the way back to kindergarten, where she met Ino for the first time. She remembers that specific day clearly, where their first day of a strong friendship started. The blondehaired gossip queen had defended her against a couple of bullies teasing her about her pink hair and large forehead, telling them to get lost, only to nickname her Forehead-girl after they left. Sakura retaliated by calling her a pig and ever since, the nicknames had stuck.

Sakura smiled at the memory of it before heading to their shared bathroom to freshen up.

After refreshing herself and wiping her face clean from water, Sakura pondered on what to do in the remaining two hours that she should've been sleeping away. A flashback to the dream caused the pinkette to frown, shaking her head to rid herself of the images.

" _Leave her."_

The feeling of abandonment was fleeting but regardless of that, it was still there, and she had felt it. The feelings of cold dread and panic washed over her, crept up her spine, causing her throat to tighten and making it hard for her to swallow properly. Ultimately, she knew she would have to do something that would take her mind off of things, something that would distract her from her _traitorous_ mind. Looking around, she caught sight of her training shoes, and an idea sparked in her head.

She could go for a run.

It would be the perfect thing to do if she wanted to find relief from her distressing thoughts, the perfect outlet to escape her feelings.

To just _run_ from them.

Maybe then the anger and sorrow and anxiousness would disappear, the exhaustion flushing her system clean, and leaving her an open window to find some peace.

She needed it right now, all the peace that she could find, to delete the images of her nightmare. Her mind flashed the gruesome scene of three shadows looming over her, and the ebony haired man's voice telling them she wasn't worth the trouble…

" _Leave her."_

" _She is not worth the trouble."_

Her brows dipped, and she quickly walked over to the side of her bed and grabbed her duffel bag along with her headphones, phone, and running shoes, and headed out. The quicker she got out, the quicker she could reduce the state of mess that she was in.

She walked with careful steps when entering the hallway, mindful of the other sleeping girls in their dorms. Currently, she presided on the third floor, where her and her friends' dorms were located. There were no boys inside the building, just girls, and for that, she was grateful, because if there _had_ been boys here…

' _They would probably harass us at every given opportunity.'_ Sakura thought inwardly, and made a turn to reach the staircase.

The building that she was in, had three floors in total - the two top floors reserved for dorms, which were divided into different sections - senior, sophomore and freshmen wings, and the bottom floor was an area for students to mingle and socialize. So the building had to be pretty huge, if it were meant to contain so many students. _Especially_ if it even had a kitchen, which was one of its highpoints in Sakura's opinion.

That was only the start, however, for right next to the building in which she was presiding in, there was _another_ building, that is _exactly_ as huge as its neighbour. And opposite the two buildings… there were two more identical ones, used by the gender that can pee while standing.

In total that makes it _four_ huge buildings - all of them which students of KHS were currently residing.

It truly was a _blessing_ that they were separated by gender, two ginormous houses for each gender, or else it was guaranteed that chaos would ensue. Sakura believed that theory, even though it hadn't been proven – and it could stay unproven, because she wasn't exactly up for testing its liability.

The reason that backed up the decision of gender separation, was KHS's belief that it would _prevent_ _certain_ _actions_ taking place. Little did they know, however, that people snuck in anyway - after the given curfew time.

Alongside their plan of separating the males and females from another, there was this nicely added curfew that happens at 09:00 PM sharp every weekday _,_ where boys had to head back to their building and girls to theirs.

Of course, students were permitted to socialize outside their respective buildings after the assigned time – no issues there, it was just simply prohibited for guys and girls to be in their opposite gender's dorms. So they wouldn't break the golden rule of converging _in certain actions._

Not that many heeded that rule anyway. The students thought the rule existed only for the purpose of being broken. Although Sakura didn't really mind, she guessed it was a good rule to have, but if not a little childish because, honestly? This is _high school_ , it's the peak of every teenager's life, of course they'll do their _damnest_ to experience it to the fullest. Not that the pinkette would be going there anytime soon, though. Being in a guys' dorm to do… well, do the _nasty_ … It wasn't her type of thing.

 _Far from it_.

Sakura shuddered at the thought. Sure, she would love to find a boyfriend that loved her… but she wasn't going to sleep around just for the joy and, ah, _pleasure,_ of it. For her, being intimate with someone had to have meaning, she couldn't just do it for the sake of fraternization. She could catch herpes... or worse, _AIDS_. Which of both she didn't want.

The pinkette finally reached the bottom floor after walking down the three sets of stairs, and turned left from the staircase towards the double doors that would lead to the outside grounds. The air was chilly, Sakura realized, when pushing the hefty wooden doors open. She was met with an especially cold wind to the face, and frowned at how her body shivered from the coldness of the breeze. Being cold wasn't something she liked, actually, she _despised_ being cold. It meant that you just ended up shivering all the time and hacking your teeth. She preferred warmth, and heat, not freezing coldness.

Ironically though, she was anything _but._

Her blood circulation in both hands and feet was slow, it being caused by a genetic disease that made them to constantly be cold. It had been passed down from her father's side, she had been told when she asked why she always had such cold hands in younger years.

It was something that bothered her, really, having the genetic disease, because every time she touched someone, they would flinch at the sudden coldness of her hands. Therefore, if possible, she would avoid coming into unnecessary contact with strangers.

Her friends didn't mind her… _condition,_ in the slightest though, and for that she felt forever thankful.

Letting out a puff of air, she proceeded towards the section where the gym was located, zigzagging between the gigantic buildings. The gym was stationed to the far side of the boys' dorms, quite a distance away, so it took some time to reach the place. It gave her enough time to plan her route for her jog, and she figured that running a couple laps around the hall would suffice. At least for today, she could explore later in what other paths that were available for running.

Sakura bent down and re-tied her running shoes when reaching the steps of the gym, having already been inside and changed, and then proceeded to plug in her headphones to her phone. She scrolled through her music, looking for a song that would inspire and help her start off running. After a little scrolling, she finally found it and pressed it, the tunes immediately reverberating inside her head, all the while shutting out the outside world.

The song _Centuries_ by Fall Out Boy echoed with its lyrics, and she found herself singing quietly along, despite her untalented voice. The song was set on repeat, for once Sakura was stuck on a song, she could listen to it for ages. It was a habit that people thought weird, but she didn't mind as long as the song did its job to soothe her. Ino and Hinata had long gotten used to the looping of Sakura's most favoured songs, both of them fully convinced that some part of Sakura's mind was insane. For only an insane person could listen to a song a thousand times and never tire from the same rhythmic pattern.

Right?

Sakura started into a slow jog, running a few laps to warm up before escalating into a full out run. Breaths were harshly pushed out of her nose and mouth, while copious amounts of air were inhaled. Her mind was still uneasy after a couple of laps, and it somehow didn't bode well. Somehow, it felt like she was waiting for something to happen, something _terrible, and unwanted._

The lyrics kept going, and she jogged at a fast pace, wanting to feel the power of her legs pushing her further forward, each sprinting step making her feel unstoppable.

 _ **Some legends are told  
Some turn to dust or to gold**_

Sakura wiped the sweat that was accumulating on her forehead and temples from the tempo she was running at. She hindered it from stinging her eyes by wiping it away, for it was an uncomfortable sensation to have liquid dripping into her eyes. If she could avoid it, then she damn would.

 _ **But you will remember me  
Remember me for centuries**_

… " _Leave her."_

The pinkette's brows tilted downwards and she frowned at the sudden phrase popping into her head. It was the third time her mind reminded her of the words spoken in her nightmare. She couldn't figure out the reason why her mind tortured her in such ways. It was h _er_ mind. But then, _why couldn't she control it?_

 _ **And just one mistake  
Is all it will take**_

Her breaths were becoming harsher with every new spoken lyric. Her mind was a _traitor_ , she mused, anger igniting and building up inside the pinkette.

" _Mom, don't leave me."_

Thud.

" _I'm sorry, honey, mommy was too late."_

Thud. Her foot hit the earth with powerful force.

" _Mom, no! Don't leave me… Don't leave me here alone!"_

Thud _thud._ Each step vibrated through her muscles, each step expressing the infernal furnace of anger and _guilt_ that the pinkhaired girl was currently feeling.

" _I'm so sorry, Sakura dear…"_

Thud, thud, _thud._

" _NOO! … Mom…"_

 _THUD._ A footprint was left in the dirt, the impact diverting the once even ground from its linear surface and into a depth.

 _ **We'll go down in history  
Remember me for centuries**_

" _You better remember the face of your mother's killer, so you'll never forget how useless you were, not being able to save your beloved mother's life. Pitiful, and weak."_

Silent tears were now running down her cheeks, her mind bringing forth image after image, each one more horrible than the other. The made up conversation between her mother and her - the picture created to symbolize the betrayal she felt over her mother leaving her alone in the world, and the whispered taunts from _him_ nothing but imagination, however it might as well have been real for it spoke of how Sakura felt when her mother got murdered. She was _useless,_ just like he had said. She was _weak, pathetic._

She heaved in breath after breath, her mind more distressed than before when she started her jog. She had to do something, _anything,_ to break the spell the song was weaving onto her. So she did the first thing that came to her mind, she switched songs.

 _I'd Love to Change the World – Matsubs Remix_ by Jetta sounded through her earphones.

Almost instantly, the pinkette felt relief flood her senses at the new song. No more did she have to hear the misinterpreted lyrics of her previous choice of soundtrack. The slow beat and bass in her newly chosen song calmed her racing mind. Turning the volume up higher, it drowned out everything, her breathing, her heartbeat, the thud of her feet hitting the earth packed ground, _everything._ Her anger died down, the fire no longer being fuelled, and the guilt was slowly washed away.

With the calming song wiping away her misery, Sakura thought back on what happened only moments ago. The lyrics of the song had somehow triggered her to react strongly, her mind lashing out in anger, as if some kind of defence mechanism. She knew that she had been scarred, and hurt badly over the terrible event of her mother's death, but for her mind to be so quick to anger over a few choice words? It was new to her. She had never experienced anything like it. She had had songs on replay before, some more depressing than others, but it had never triggered anything. She had a short fuse, yes, but _this_ short? No.

Maybe it was because the dream she had dreamt was the original scene from which all her other nightmares diverted from? Maybe that was the reason?

Reliving the specific scene of seeing her mother getting stabbed is what must have triggered her anger, or so Sakura believed. It was the only reasonable theory that was applicable to what had transpired only moments ago. It had been a long time since she had actually _seen_ her mother get killed. Her nightmares always just sort of… jumped over that particular gruesome part. She didn't know if it was her mind trying to tell her something or if it just liked messing with her.

It probably wasn't the latter, she hoped, which meant it had to be the former.

Maybe her mind wanted her to accept the fact that what has happened, _happened,_ and that she just had to… deal with it? To just… accept it?

 _Impossible._

There was no way Sakura could ever forgive those men for doing what they did, nor would she ever accept that she had to say farewell to her mother once and for all. In doing so it meant that she would have to let herself remember the times when her mother was still alive. Those memories had been repressed a _long_ time ago, she didn't want to recall the times where her mother was in the world among the living, for it would force her to acknowledge her death, as well. Some days, the good days, she could still pretend that maybe her mother was alive after all, that she wasn't lying buried 10 feet underneath the soil. But inwardly she knew it was false hope. _Of course_ she was dead. She had been dead for almost three years now.

 _She had seen her die dammit._

Sakura shut her eyes, willing the thoughts to end, and shook her head. Keep riding that train of thought and she would be in no better condition than when she woke up. Instead, she shifted focus to her running.

Sweat freely poured down her face, making it stick like a second layer, and her face was covered in a blush of red from her efforts.

' _I probably look hideous.'_

After running a few more laps, her legs started to protest and screamed at her to stop. So she did, sitting down on the steps to the P.E. Hall to catch her breath. Minutes ticked by before her breath finally regulated back to a normal and steady intake of air. The pinkette rose and stretched a little before heading inside, intent on taking a hot shower. She let out a sigh of bliss at the thought of warm water cascading down her back and unwinding her tense muscles. She really needed it, _craved it._

Nothing served as a better escape from her demons than hot showers.

She tugged off her sweaty clothing and threw them to the side where they landed on the wooden bench, and was just about to unsnap her bra when a thought popped into her mind. Chills ran down her back.

' _Where is my towel?'_

Shocked, and now distressed, the pinkette looked around the room and under the benches, but couldn't spot the white piece of fabric anywhere. It was _gone._

She sat down heavily on the bench, its cool surface not helping her with her distress. She knew she had brought a towel with her, but it wasn't in the duffel bag, she looked, and it wasn't in the locker room either, as proved by her earlier frantic searching. Sakura clenched her jaw and fiddled with her fingers, all the while trying to figure out where she might have left it. Her brow furrowed in thought. Then, her eyes widened, and realization came crashing into her, her body flinching from the strong reaction. She remembered now where it was. Before, she had used it to wipe her face clean of sweat after running, so it wouldn't make her face itch when the liquid started drying into her skin.

She had left it outside. On the stairs.

Which meant _she had to walk out there._

In her _underwear._

For there was just no possible way that she would put on her grimy and sweaty clothes again just to get her towel. She'd rather endure the embarrassment of walking there in just a bra and panties. Sakura swallowed and closed her eyes, silently resigning herself to walk the walk of shame in her underwear. She simply had to if she wanted her towel back, damned be the anxiety.

' _I'm at least lucky enough to be here early, so I won't have to worry about anyone seeing me…_

… _Right?'_ The pinkette thought, and swallowed again at the sudden nervousness that came rushing. It wasn't a big deal really… It was just outside on the steps, and she wasn't _completely_ butt naked, she still had clothes on her covering her most sacred places _dammit_.

She let out a sigh before bracing herself and headed towards the locker room door, tipping on her toes, thinking and believing that it'll reduce the sounds that she made.

' _Why was I so stupid…?'_

She checked the hallway, and rechecked it again just to make sure that there wasn't a single soul out there to witness her fantastic display of state of undress, before stepping outside. She didn't even ponder on the scenario where some stranger would spot her in just her underwear… Especially if the stranger was a _guy_ … The embarrassment would just be too much, she'd never be able to return. She would simply have to quit on her first day and never come back.

Okay, so maybe she did ponder on that scenario, because it was likely that it would happen, seeing that she had this _amazing_ trait of bad luck. Yeah, no, the word luck didn't exist in her world, or her vocabulary, the meaning of it strange to her. _'At least I can hope it'll be a nice-looking guy seeing me this… naked. That would save me less embarrassment.'_ Sakura thought, and blushed at the mere idea that a random guy would see her like this. No guy had ever seen her without _proper_ clothes on. There just wasn't anyone out there willing to deal with the emotional wreck that she is. Her walls were propped up too high. It would take someone _very_ dedicated to even _try_ tear down the defensive walls of her mind.

The air out in the hallway was a bit chillier than in was in the locker room, and it caused goose bumps to envelope her form, the tiny hairs on her body rising from the sudden exposure. She tiptoed further ahead, spotting the wooden structure of the double doors that would lead her to her beloved towel and, ultimately, to her rescue.

The boy shuffled along the dirtpath with a duffel bag swung over his shoulder, his feet directing him towards the P.E. Hall. There was a creaking sound that brought him out of his silent brooding, and he shifted his gaze over to where the sound came from, which also happened to be where the entrance to the building was that he was heading toward. The sight he was met with caused one of his brows to rise in slight amusement.

' _That is new'_ , he mused, and saw a girl with pink hair standing in the middle of the steps, about to grab what seemed to be a towel.

And she was wearing nothing but her underwear.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, but he pushed it away. Instead, he went to lean on the lamp post next to him, letting his gaze wander over the form of the girl before him. Her body wasn't overly curvaceous, he noticed, but instead athletically built. That is, if her slim shaped body was anything to go by. She also seemed so… small. And fragile.

She was petite, he decided.

He then stopped that train of thought, and breathed a sigh of annoyance. The girl was still oblivious to his presence, so it appeared that he would have to make himself known to her. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he pushed off the lamp post and cleared his throat to catch the unknowing girl's attention.

Not expecting to hear _any_ type of sound while fetching her sacred white piece of fabric that _would've_ been her lifesaver, her body startled and the pinkette swiftly turned around to where the sound came from, all the while fumbling with her towel anxiously. Her eyes were wide open in both fear and surprise, for she had been so utterly _unprepared_ for anyone to walk by.

Her eyes scanned the premises and soon landed on the source of the sound, and her breath _hitched._

For right under the shining light of the nearby lamp post, stood a human form, a human form that very much read _male._

Her eyes were met with a lean and toned body from what she could see, because he was dressed a grey t-shirt and a pair of black, loose fitting jeans along with a pair of jays that blocked her vision, making her guess unconfirmed. She swallowed nervously, and let her gaze travel higher, not wanting to get caught ogling.

Only, they landed on the darkest pair of deep obsidian eyes that she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes widened even more, for his onyx orbs… They were like an abyss, _drawing her in and exposing her to the world._

It made her feel all too insecure.

Immediately, she clenched her jaw, because she couldn't for the life of her turn her gaze away from his. He was too captivating. While her emerald orbs were like an open book, his eyes showed _nothing._ They were just… intense, and…

And _full of mirth._

 _The bastard was finding the whole situation amusing._

He then shifted and the trance between them was broken, but with it, the reality of her predicament also came crashing, along with the _embarrassment_.

Because while he was dressed in clothes… She was only in her underwear.

Which explained the reason why he seemed so amused.

She was standing in front of him in _only her underwear,_ flaunting her body for the world to see.

' _But then why does he look so exasperated and irritated?'_ Her mind mused silently when her eyes swept over the rest of his facial futures, which, for the record, were nothing short of _sexy._

The sheer amount of embarrassment that she was feeling at the moment made her take a deep breath, only for it to once again hitch in her throat.

The pinkette gulped, and threw the first words that came to her mind at him,

''Who a-are you?'' She said, all the while cursing herself inwardly for the shakiness of her voice.

The idea of trying to appear strong and unaffected flew right out of the window as fast as it came, she had already failed _miserably._

The breath-taking ebony haired stranger however, disregarded her question and spoke in a slightly raspy voice, which caused Sakura to unconsciously gulp, _again,_

''You should cover yourself up.''

And that was when she realized that she had yet to wrap her towel around her body. Instead, she had only been holding it in her hands the entire time.

 _Damn it._

This stranger was witnessing her make mistake after mistake, probably thinking that she was a fool, a naïve and stupid girl. The thought tweaked a heartstring inside her, oddly enough.

She had to swallow down the thick lump in her throat before giving a reply,

''Y-yeah…''

He then started walking forward, making her subconsciously take a couple of few steps back, and she stumbled up the stairs, backwards. _'Great… More mistakes…'_

While she thought that he would just brush past her and ignore her, which she was desperately hoping for, he did the opposite and came to a stop just right next to her, his arm brushing against her shoulder. She had to force her head up to meet his gaze once again, their eyes interlocking. He leaned in, and Sakura started to believe that the chance of a heart attack occurring was increasing per second the way her heart was beating - which was _damn fast._

His breath tickled against her cheek, and all Sakura could do to not react in any sort of way, was to take silent quick breaths.

''… You have yet to cover yourself up.'' And with that, he straightened up and walked away, the sound of the doors being pushed open behind her drowned out by the rampaging thoughts that currently were raging a war inside her head.

Sakura quickly wrapped the towel around her body after he had left, not wanting a repeat of _more_ incidents. She was still flustered from the stranger's behaviour, but also felt frustration and irritation rise within.

He didn't have to scare her half to death only to tell her to cover herself up. How hard could it be to just… _Not_ lean in close to her and breathe on her face? Why couldn't he have done the straightforward thing and just tell her on his way in to the gym that she had yet to wrap the towel around her body? But no, apparently, that was not his style. He just _had to_ be all intimidating and… and, _breath-taking_.

 _Literally._

She let out a frustrated sigh and turned to enter the building herself, finally being able to take the much longed for hot shower, all the while ignoring the fact that the stranger also was within the vicinity of the P.E. Hall.


	2. Chapter 2 - Funny Coincidences

Alright, here's Chapter Two! I decided to upload it today as well, because why not? This is where the fun actually begins.

This chapter is a little short compared to what chapters one and three are but, there wasn't a good spot to make a chapter break without messing the plot up.

Enjoy!

* * *

 _Oh no, we're not Strangers anymore,_

 _Oh no, I'll keep coming back for more._

 ** _\- RUNAGROUND_**

* * *

 **Chapter Two – Funny Coincidences**

Even though a couple of hours had passed, Sakura found herself recalling the earlier event of her morning, her leg bobbing up and down in a nervous habit and her gaze staring out the window, her mind flew back to the _joyous_ interaction that made up her morning.

Flashback –

 _After she had showered and dressed herself in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a white top with an accompanying long grey cardigan, Sakura packed up her things, feeling easy and refreshed. The whole, rather embarrassing, ordeal that had taken place just outside the building had been washed down the drain during her shower. She gave a content sigh._

 _Wet tresses of strawberry blonde stuck to her face, and she took one of the tassels around her wrist and twisted her hair into a messy bun that didn't look too dishevelled. It would do for the day._

 _The pinkette grabbed her things and threw the strap of the duffel bag over her shoulder and headed out. Just when she thought she had her freedom, however, it turned out that she was utterly mistaken, for behind her she could hear the voice of the stranger calling out to her;_

'' _Finally you have clothes on.'' Sakura halted, coming to an abrupt stop at hearing his comment. Then her face turned a dark shade of red, and she let out a huff, throwing the door open and storming outside, all the while missing the smirk and the amusement that played in the stranger's onyx eyes._

The shuffle of people packing up and walking out of the classroom brought Sakura out of her reverie, and caused her to look around, her mind still slightly hazy from spacing out. Class had ended, which meant Sakura had been zoned out for quite a while. ' _Even when he's not here, he manages to somehow frustrate me. At least I don't have to see him ever again,'_ Sakura thought, bemused. Quickly she packed her things into her bag and rose to follow the flow of students out into the corridor. But before managing to do so, a hand grabbed a hold of her wrist and drew her backwards. Surprised, the pinkette twisted to discover who had taken hold of her arm.

It turned out to be a girl.

Who had a beautiful shade of chestnut brown hair that, upon further scrutiny, had been twisted and pinned up into two identical twin buns on either side, with small bangs framing her face.

Sakura moved her gaze over to the brunette's facial futures, and discovered that her eyes were a striking hazel, which seemed to draw her own emerald orbs in.

' _What's with people's eyes at this school silently seducing me? This is the second time in a row already..!'_

After taking in her appearance, Sakura shot a quick glance at the vice grip on her arm, figuring that the girl had to be participating in some kind of sport, or fighter's class, for she had a _really_ strong grip. Inwardly, she winced at the tight hold of her forearm, it did kind of hurt a little.

' _It's probably going to bruise.'_

The girl who she had silently been studying for some time dipped a brow, looking slightly unsure, before speaking,

''You're… Sakura, right?'' The pinkette stood dumbfounded for a while, her eyes widening a fraction. How did this girl know her name?

But regardless, she gave an apprehensive smile before uttering a 'yes', still pondering on just _who_ this girl was.

''Ah, then I was right. I was worried for a second that I might've grabbed the wrong person, but then again, it's hard to miss a girl with pink hair.'' The girl smirked. It made Sakura feel a little more at ease, knowing that the brunette didn't seem to have some kind of evil scheme planned for her. That would've sucked, otherwise.

She let out a laugh, and felt that maybe they would end up good friends in the future, but it was too early to make any assumptions. She barely knew this girl.

''Yeah, I guess so,'' came her reply. The brunette then released her hold on the pinkette and shot her hand forward.

''I'm Tenten by the way. And if you're wondering, I'm actually Hinata's bunk-buddy. Ironically, I'm also friends with her cousin, so I've known her since before. Funny coincidence, right? But yeah, she told me about you and some other girl, Ino, I think her name was, that you two were bunking together…?''

She was right. She and Ino _were_ the two girls that bunked together, but Sakura paid that little mind, for she was too busy mulling over the fact that Hinata _knew_ this girl. It was hard picturing her purplehaired friend socializing with the brunette… Her personality pointed towards outgoing, and Hinata was all _but_ an extrovert. Yet they seemed to have history together. Odd.

Sakura decided to shrug it off for now, and instead took hold of Tenten's hand and shook it.

''It is a funny coincidence, I didn't know, Hinata hasn't mentioned anything. And yes, I am the one bunking with Ino. I would say my name but, you seem to already know that.'' Sakura said, letting a smirk form on her lips. It was easy to converse with this girl, she was so… easy-going. The brunette let out a laugh at her comment.

Yes, this did seem to be a start to what Sakura hoped would be a nice friendship. But maybe a little secretive as well. She knew her name, she knew Hinata, and her cousin apparently, but this was the first time she ever heard of _her_. Why did she approach her?

It was such a small matter, really, hardly anything worth to get worked up about, but it kept nagging her in the back of her mind, not wanting to be dismissed as coincidence.

''Come on, I'll show you around on campus. The boys and Hinata wanted me to help you and your friends out, so you don't wander around lost. I'll show you around and explain the inner workings of this school, so there's nothing to worry about.''

' _The boys?'_

Suddenly, the brunette leaned in a little closer to Sakura, with a spark of _something_ inside her hazel eyes that made Sakura feel slightly uneasy.

''I have to warn you though…'' Tenten spoke in a low whisper, catching the pinkette's emerald orbs with her intense hazel ones, dragging her in and chaining her, unable to divert her gaze even if she wanted to.

''KHS is no ordinary school, you should be prepared for anything.'' And then she promptly proceeded to drag Sakura outside, walking towards what probably was the lunch area for the clock had struck lunchtime, leaving the pinkette wondering what she possibly could have meant with 'KHS is no ordinary school', and that she should 'be prepared'. _'But prepare for what? And who are the boys she mentioned…'_

Sakura furrowed her brow. Something was in the making.

Tenten seemed to be hiding something, but only let her know a few loose bits of information. Irrelevant, but somehow important, pieces of info.

Could she have possibly meant that because KHS was a school for rich people, they believed they could do anything the wanted, just because they had the money to do so? Even… Criminal things? That she should prepare for that?

' _Would they go so far as to break the law…?'_

And who were the boys she had mentioned earlier, those that apparently wanted Tenten to find her, along with Hinata? It was as if they had a manila folder full of details about her – her name, how she looked like… They seemed to know it all. It must've been Hinata's doing, but regardless of that, it still made her feel uneasy. And slightly afraid, because she had no idea about whom the boys were, or what they could be capable of. Or why her purplehaired friend never had mentioned anything…

' _I seriously hope it's not a planned kidnapping…_ ' Her mind popped up.

' _Now I'm going too far, that's just stupid. She probably just meant those big parties that always take place when school starts up again, stop being paranoid.'_ She scolded herself.

She hated not knowing, to be stuck in the dark with little to no information. It left her guessing, and she would draw up theory after theory, just trying to piece the puzzle together. Because she wanted to _know._ However, sometimes her mind just went into overdrive, thinking of the most unlikely scenarios in an attempt to cover the blank spaces.

Just like it had done now, mistaking school for some kind of detective agency. Jesus, she was _bad._

Sakura and Tenten had gotten lunch together, and now it was time for the last class before the school day was officially over. While walking towards her locker, Sakura recalled the conversation they had during lunch.

Flashback –

''So Sakura, have you signed up for any sport here on campus?'' Tenten asked, giving the pinkette a curious glance and lifting up a piece of lattice to eat.

''I have actually, handball. I was considering lacrosse but… It didn't feel like my type of thing. Besides, handball I've played before, so I know how it works.'' Sakura said, and chewed on her potato while staring at her plate as if stuck in a trance.

''Ah, so you played handball at your previous school then? Well, except that we're in the same calculus and history class, we'll apparently be seeing each other _a lot_ _ **,**_ because I signed up for the handball team as well.'' Tenten replied, and winked at the pinkette who had managed to break the stare competition between her and her vegetables, directing her gaze at the brunette when she had spoken. Her cheeks immediately turned a light shade of pink, because the smile Tenten flashed her meant that there was some kind of double-meaning in between those words. But Sakura didn't ponder on that too much, or she'd become more flustered than she already was.

''I did, and I kind of miss playing it, so that's why I signed up. It's too bad it isn't all too recognized though…''

''I know, right? I think handball is one of the best sports out there, you-''

''-get to see some hot girls playing on a field while throwing a ball around, nothing to complain about!'' Someone butted in. Sakura was stunned into silence and lifted her gaze to the person who had approached and interrupted Tenten.

It was a blondehaired boy, who sported a goofy and rather captivating smile. Sakura furthered her scrutiny, and saw that he had a golden brown complexion, along with a muscular body, though it was hidden behind a pair of loose light blue jeans and a simple white t-shirt. She shifted her gaze further up, and saw that his eyes were one of the most beautiful and intense shades of blue. They were nice to look at - they were likeable.

' _Okay Sakura, jump off that train.'_

''Perv, of course you'd say that. But you're just desperate, Naruto, and can't succeed in luring a girl to you so you just have to accept that you'll only see one from a distance.'' Tenten turned around and said, all the while shooting the blonde boy whose name apparently was Naruto a devilish smirk. All but Sakura remained oblivious to how the cafeteria had suddenly turned quiet, and that there were a lot of pair of eyes directed towards their table. Some even seemed chocked, while others were curious. Sakura wondered why.

Did it have something to do with the blondehaired boy – With Naruto? It sure seemed like it, because it was only when he entered that all the chatter died down. She chewed on her carrot slowly, her brow furrowed in thought.

There seemed to be quite a few secrets around here, things everyone else knew… Everyone but _her_ , apparently.

Why were these people so shocked to see Naruto walking in here? Did he have some kind of reputation going on? She wanted to know, dammit.

' _Just what is going on…? This is getting weird.'_

Sakura brought herself back to reality, deciding to let the matter go for now. She wouldn't come to any conclusions anyway, for there was too much that remained unknown. Her mental list of question marks was consistently growing larger, she felt.

Naruto had dramatically placed a hand over his heart and made a facial expression of hurt at Tenten's words.

''You wound me, Ten, having no faith in me. Might as well grab a knife and stab me while you're at it.'' Tenten only rolled her eyes before she turned back to Sakura who had yet to say anything, mostly because she had been lost in thought, and pointed a thumb at the blonde.

''That idiot standing there is Naruto Uzumaki, he's part of the boys' group, and has shits for brains.''

''Hey! I do not, I'm pretty smart when I want to be!''

''Which is _never_ , Naruto, get over it.''

''Why am I even friends with you…'' The blonde muttered, before he glanced over at the other girl sitting opposite Tenten. His ten thousand watt smile returned. Sakura curiously observed him. He seemed to smile a lot.

' _Not that his smiles look bad, they're actually pretty nice to look at… Okay Sakura, time to stop. What did I say about the train?'_ She interrupted her study of him, fearing it would go out of control if she continued. Naruto then spoke up.

''Who's this? You actually have _girlfriends,_ Tenten? Colour me surprised.'' He said and laughed, patting the brunette's shoulder in a good-for-you manner. He was about to continue his teasing when suddenly his eyes widened and a baffled expression overtook his facial futures. Then,

''Your hair is pink.'' Came the abrupt statement. The blonde's gaze held disbelief at what he was seeing. Sakura just blinked, surprised, before raising an eyebrow and smirked.

''And as real as the pink laces on your shoes. Tell me, why _do_ _you_ have pink laces on your shoes, Naruto?'' This time it was Naruto who was looking surprised, but it didn't last very long before he broke into a chuckle. His hand was now on the back of Tenten's seat instead of her shoulder, whiles his other rose and scratched his head, ruffling the blonde locks. Tenten's lips quirked into a smile and amusement played in her eyes at Sakura's unexpected come-back.

''Ah, that. I lost a bet, and Teme forced me to wear pink laces to school for this whole month. Bastard's playing the tough love card on me.''

''I think you mean 'luck', tough _luck_ , Sasuke doesn't love people, remember?'' Tenten quipped.

''Of course he does! He's just an emotionally constipated person with a stick driven up his ass, nothing to worry about.'' Naruto replied, almost _too_ casually. He was insulting this Sasuke-guy while at the same time absurdly defending him. It didn't exactly count as normal… But Naruto had this weird affect and made it _seem_ as if it was, like someone could actually walk around with a stick driven up your behind and not getting impaled by it from the inside…

' _Why am I even imagining this?'_

Sakura sat still, her cheek resting against her hand while her mind had swivelled away from reality and into her thoughts. _Again_. She had spaced out more as of late… But the blame was on these people. They dragged her into some sort of mystery, and so, Sakura felt it was her job to solve it.

' _Who is this Sasuke? And what did Tenten mean by 'he doesn't love people'?'_ She mused silently. The name brought forth weird feelings to her - butterfly feelings, like she somehow should recognize the name of the mentioned person. But as far as she knew, she didn't know anyone named 'Sasuke', nor had she met anyone called that either, so the feeling was left unidentified. And why did Naruto call this Sasuke-guy 'Teme'?

' _Isn't that an insult…?'_

Not being aware of her surroundings, someone suddenly appeared in her line of vision, effectively bringing her out from her mind's world.

''Earth to Sakura, are you there?''

Crouched at her feet and waving a pair of hands in front of her face, was Naruto. The glazed over look in her eyes disappeared and the pinkette blinked.

''Welcome back to the land of the living,'' The blonde said, and shot her a boyish smirk. Sakura tilted her head and smiled at his antics.

''Thank you, it's good to be back.'' She replied. The trio then proceeded to exit the lunchroom, the onlookers following them with their gaze, still looking shocked and curious.

Her previous thoughts about why they seemed so surprised to see the blondehaired boy enter the cafeteria, and who at the moment walking next to her, came back, but she pushed them away and ignored them. Instead, she continued on with her light banter with Naruto while Tenten just pretended she didn't know the two. Before the pinkette took off to her class, however, Naruto pulled her over to the side.

''Hey Sakura, you should hang with me and Tenten tomorrow, we're sitting at the cafeteria then too, so you can meet the rest of the group. And bring your friends. It'll be fun, alright? I promise!'' Sakura felt overwhelmed at what the blonde had said. He was asking _her_ , _Ino and Hinata_ , to come with him to introduce them to his friends. It left her feeling… happy, and content.

Something she rarely felt these days.

She wouldn't have to worry anymore if she would find any friends or not, for here she was just given the opportunity to find them. Tears of happiness filled up her eyes but she quickly pushed them down, not wanting to embarrass herself and cry in front of Naruto. It would look silly. Instead, she opted to smile widely, her own version of his ten thousand watt smile.

''I'd love to.''

''Alright! I knew we would be great friends. Meet us up outside the cafeteria tomorrow when your classes end, see you, Sakura!'' He said, and walked away. Not before bringing her into a hug though, which left Sakura rooted in the spot even after he had taken off. She never pondered over the fact that he knew her name without her ever mentioning it.


	3. Chapter 3 - Trickery of Truth

Alright, third chapter up, guys! Thanks for the reviews so far, excluding that one hater. I hope you all will enjoy this lengthy chapter and please do leave a review! If not, a follow or favourite also sparks motivation!

 **Side note:** This chapter might become confusing towards the end, so I'll adress a few things happeing in this story at the bottom of the chapter, otherwise; enjoy!

* * *

 _I'm the King of Doubt,_

 _I Fight it out all on the Inside._

 ** _\- Theory of a Deadman_**

* * *

 **Chapter Three – Trickery of Truth**

The following day, Sakura and Ino were standing outside the cafeteria, as instructed, and waited for Naruto and Tenten to show up. Hinata would have come along too, but a family matter caused her to stay behind.

The pinkette shifted on her feet, thinking. She had yet to tell Ino, and Hinata aswell, about the rather embarrassing and very _awkward,_ ordeal that had happened yesterday morning. She felt that it was better off if none of them knew. It wasn't like she was ever going to see him again anyway, it was a one-time thing, so why not just leave it like that? Besides, Sakura knew Ino well enough to know that the blonde would only use the incident as blackmail material to get her way through, and so, there was no reason to give her any more ammunition. Ino already has enough shots to fire with the dirty little secrets she has accumulated over the years of them being best friends. One more would only put her in a miserable place, and she would have to count her days at KHS before she called it quits.

Hinata however, was of an entire different league, and she wouldn't spill the beans like some rabid dog on drugs with a gossip problem; which is a perfect depiction of a blonde named _Ino._ The Yamanaka could sniff out gossip from a mile away, and it was the very reason _why_ Sakura had such a strong conviction in avoiding telling her of the incident. It would simply _ruin_ her.

Hinata she trusted to be able to keep a secret, but she had yet to see her purplehaired friend.

''Hellooo? Sakura? Are you listening to anything I'm saying?'' A voice came from her right.

''Mmh…, huh?''

''… You spaced out on me, didn't you.'' Sakura went quiet, for she had done exactly what Ino accused her of doing.

But not wanting to reveal that she was, in fact, _guilty,_ she mustered up a poker face to hide behind.

''… No, I didn't.'' Ino raised an eyebrow, unconvinced at her answer.

''Then what was the last thing I said?''

''Uh…'' Her pokerface was definitely ruined, just as much as her belief in thinking she was good at keeping a straight face. She wasn't.

''Exactly. Anyway, I'll forgive you this time for being a bad best friend but next time! You better sleep with one eye open.'' Sakura just looked guilty, which she was, and nodded meekly in response.

Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly went on in Ino's head, for at times she could be _very_ intimidating, more so than a normal teenager their age. She believed it had to come from somewhere, because you weren't simply _born_ with such a strong trait to intimidate. Either it had to be trained up, or an event or situation triggered a part of one's sub consciousness that unlocks the door to locked away abilities. Abilities that people are too scared of using, or perhaps are too dangerous to use because of its consequences. Ino was living proof of those consequences. She has no shame in calling out people, or following through with revenge plots to get back at fiends, nor has she any remorse for those that have to suffer through her wrath.

It rose question marks, and Sakura wondered how Ino could have developed those kind of uncaring sides, because as far as she knew, Ino hasn't suffered from a trauma.

Which then has to make her an exception to the rules of psychology. And that takes her back to square one as to why she is an exception.

She would probably never know the answers to those unanswered questions.

''As I was saying, Saks, I'm so happy for you that you already managed to find friends, especially on the first day of school! … But I'm still jealous, how could you do that but not me? I'm supposed to outshine you!'' Ino complained, her mood doing a complete 180. It left the pinkette feeling very confused over the shifting of moods. One second she was shooting threats at her, and in the next she's praising but at the same time condemning her for being the first to find friends on the campus? Sakura mentally shook her head. Ino was a puzzle that simply couldn't be solved, for she was just too unpredictable. No one knew what course of action she would take, or how she would react.

''I don't know, Ino… Tenten was the one to initiate conversation with me, not the other way around. And Naruto approached _her_ , not me. I just happened to be there when he showed up… Besides, Hinata told her to find us.'' Sakura said, shrugging her shoulders. There was no credit to take, for if Tenten hadn't grabbed her wrist during yesterday's lesson, Sakura wouldn't be standing here waiting for her and Naruto. Or maybe she would, because Hinata would have probably made sure of it. Somehow.

' _I never knew Hinata could be so sneaky…'_

''Of course, expect you to find all the negative things. You have to stop being a pessimist, Sakura, it's not good for you. And yes, _our little Hina_ may have asked her to find us, but she never knew if you two would have connected! It's _the little_ things, Saks.'' The pinkette just let out a sigh, not bothering to answer, or else Ino would go on a rampage about her being too much of a pessimist.

When over ten minutes had passed, Sakura became weary. The duo still hadn't shown up and enough people had passed them by, giving them strange glances that just said 'why are they just standing there?' As if they were stupid or something. It grated on Sakura's nerves, and stirred her anxiety. She didn't like being judged, not when the people doing the judging didn't know her. She tried not to let it get to her most times, the judging glances and at-first-sight assumptions, but sometimes it would just be too much to handle. It was one of the reasons why her walls were so high up, it allowed no one to see the real her, except for her closest friends of course. But it was also a cause to why the walls were built in the first place, the misjudging and accusing glares tampering with her mind and making her feel insecure because she happened to be a simple human being with flaws.

Off in the distance, she suddenly heard a voice that she recognized. It was none other than Naruto, and he seemed to be complaining about something.

''Aw but Tenten, he deserves it!''

''You can't just go egg someone's house because they wounded your male pride. Getting your pants stolen was a good punishment for you. You recoloured his gear, in _pink and orange._ You could've at least taken another colour combination.''

''Hey, he started the whole thing by drawing on my helmet and not letting me know until _after_ practice. Do you know the embarrassment of running around on the field with unicorns and rainbows along with the words 'I'm a brony' written on it? No wonder my teammates laughed at me during practice!''

''Look, Kiba is just immature like that, there's no need to stoop down onto his level, just let him be.'' Naruto only grumbled inaudible words under his breath, but Sakura distinctly thought she heard the word ' _jerk_ ' in there somewhere.

Tenten then spotted Sakura along with Ino and waved at the two while grabbing hold of the blonde.

''Come on, Naruto, she's over there with her friend.'' Tenten said and pulled the blondehaired boy along with her. Everyone in the corridor seemed to back up and away, giving them space. _'Weird…'_

Upon reaching the duo, Naruto's mood immediately returned to the better and he threw an arm over Sakura's shoulders.

''Hey, Sakura! Sorry for being late, but our teach held us an extra ten minutes because some guy thought it was funny to place a pin on his chair when he wasn't watching.''

''Which happened to be you, so the blame is none other but yours.'' Tenten said and glared.

''What? He is evil, he was giving us homework already! During the second day ofschool! Isn't that unfair?''

''We all got punished for something _you_ did, so no, it's not unfair.''

''Whatever, I don't regret it, it was too fun watchin' his reaction.'' Naruto replied with a shrug. The pinkette and other blonde just stood still, watching the two of them gibber.

' _They're definitely an odd combination of friends…'_ Sakura thought, before Ino butted in.

''Hey, nice little chat going on here and all, but can we eat now? I'm starved.'' Sakura turned her eyes towards Ino, abashed at her friend's words.

''Uh… Excuse my friend, she gets like this when she doesn't have food in her system. She's a great person otherwise.'' Ino just huffed at the pinkette who elbowed her blonde friend in the side for being rude.

''No offense taken, but like she said, can we eat now? I'm also starved.'' Naruto agreed, and shot a puppy-eye look towards Tenten while Ino threw Sakura a smug smile.

' _Yeah yeah, let the blondes be the ones siding together.'_

They all proceeded to walk into the cafeteria and get their lunches before Naruto directed them towards a table where three other guys were sitting. Sakura noted that people were once again, staring. Even worse, a crowd had formed around the table they were supposed to sit at.

But Naruto just proceeded to shove past them and the group of girls that flocked the table before actually reaching the guys, the others in tow walking the path the blonde left them.

''What's up with all those bimbos watching your friends like a group of vultures?'' Ino inquired, sitting down with her lunch tray and Sakura trailing after.

''Don't mind them, they're all just a drag wanting our attention, but we just ignore them, as should you.'' A guy answered, his voice sounding bored. Ino looked over to who had answered her question and saw it was a boy with a spiky ponytail placed high up on his head.

''Why don't you just shoo them off, those bitches got nothing here to do, you said so yourself.'' She replied in quite a crude manner, before returning her glance towards the groupies, a frown on her face.

''I didn't say they didn't have anything here to do, but regardless, it's too troublesome.''

''In other words, you're too lazy.'' To that, the blonde didn't get a reply, which she didn't seem to mind apparently, because her pinkhaired friend saw how Ino's eyes sparked. Her interest had been piqued.

' _I wonder why…'_

She inwardly shrugged and turned her gaze to the other two guys sitting at the table while sitting down herself. That's when Naruto finally opened his mouth, having been quiet for an abnormal amount of time.

''Time for introductions, guys,'' He said and clapped his hands together.

''So, starting off, the pineapple-head that for once actually spoke more than three words, is Shikamaru Nara. He's kinda lazy… Okay, _very_ lazy, but otherwise he's a damn genius. He's the one who usually comes up with the tactics during the football games, but that doesn't mean that no one else has good input, meaning _me_. Anyway, the douche sitting over there, the brownhaired one, is Kiba. He's a big flirt, and a _jerk,_ so watch out for him. '' Naruto said, all the while throwing Kiba a dirty glare, who only smirked in return.

' _Probably because he was the one that stole Naruto's pants earlier…'_ Sakura thought, recalling what he had said to Tenten before meeting up with her and Ino.

Shikamaru had just sighed when Naruto called him a pineapple-head, apparently used to being compared to the spiky yellow fruit.

''Lastly, this is Neji Hyuuga. He doesn't say much, but trust me on this, when he wants to, he can scare the living daylights outta you.'' Neji only kept typing on his laptop, looking slightly bored, but he did nod at her and Ino in acknowledgement.

' _So that must be Hinata's cousin.'_

''Oh, and guys, these two girls here are Sakura and Ino. Sakura's the pink one and Ino the blonde.'' Naruto finished, and dusted off his hands in a manner that could be interpreted as he had done a good job.

At first, the table was quiet, the only sound being the tapping of buttons being pushed down, but then Kiba spoke.

''Naruto, that's not how you introduce others to new people, you gotta be more of a gentleman. See, I'll show you.'' Kiba then stretched his arm out towards the two girls, who didn't really know how to react to the whole situation that was developing right in front of them.

''Hello ladies, I'm Kiba Inuzuka. I'm sorry about my friend here, he doesn't know much about manners but, it's still nice to meet you two.'' He flashed them a cheeky grin. Ino was the first one that shook his hand, while the pinkette still tried to come to an understanding about the confusing scene happening before her.

''Ah, at least _someone_ has gentlemanly manners. It's nice to meet you too, I'm Ino Yamanaka.'' The blonde replied, giving Kiba one of her flirty smiles. She nudged Sakura discreetly with her elbow to tell her it was her turn, all the while whispering ' _stop spacing out_ '. Sakura just blinked at first, not reacting, but then slowly reached forward with her hand to grip Kiba's, seeing that it was outstretched. She decided that she would just have to play along, for trying to understand this group was like trying to understand an IKEA manual, which, in other words, spells _impossible._

''I'm Sakura Haruno. I heard you stole Naruto's pants earlier?'' She said, a smirk forming her lips. Kiba rubbed his neck, a light blush appearing on his face.

''Hah yeah, I did. The bastard repainted my gear so I just paid him back the deed. Speaking of, you owe me, Naruto. The coach grilled me and got me benched for the on-coming game. I even had to buy a whole set of new gear because the paint wouldn't wash off the old one.'' Naruto however, just scratched his head and smiled broadly, almost looking proud instead of guilty. Sakura almost laughed at his expression. He had no limits of shame, apparently.

''Now that we all know each other… Sakura, I mentioned before that I'd explain the inner workings around here, so you know what's up at this school,'' Tenten started, causing the pinkette to shift her gaze from Naruto to the brunette, and immediately she noted that the joking was officially over, and was to be put to the side.

Tenten crossed her arms on top of the table and leaned over slightly, as if preparing for something, before starting up the conversation again.

''Firstly, there's quite a few clubs and organisations around here, one of them being the Brotherhood. You could say they're like frats, but with just a few differences.'' She gestured with her arm, continuing.

''The Brotherhood are the ones that arrange events, mostly exclusive parties - which you should experience because they're the best by the way, but it could be other things as well… More… _thrilling_.''

The wheels inside Sakura's mind immediately got to work after Tenten uttered those words.

Those were _implications_. Implications towards something which she knew she had heard before.

A past conversation with Tenten flashed inside her mind - more specifically, a _certain_ phrase that she had said.

" _You should be prepared for anything."_

She furrowed her brow at the flashback. Back then, with that phrase, she had hinted at something. And now, she was sending her another hint.

' _It's like a damn riddle… It has to be connected to what she told me a while ago…'_

Or why else would Tenten emphasize the word _'thrilling'_?

Suspicion started to rise within her, along with the anxiousness. This, she had never predicted. Never predicated at all. The feelings within her were battling between feeling like she was waiting for her turn to walk the plank, and waiting to become a victim of shark bait, none of which were _good_ feelings. Never could she have prepared for… _this_ , whatever _this_ was - and if she ever wanted out, the point of return had long been passed.

She felt _doomed_.

Sakura took notice of the meaningful glances thrown about between Tenten and the boys while she had once again for the _umpth_ time, spaced out, and to her, that was nothing but a sign. A _bad omen_ , because it was confirming the theory which she had conjured up about them the day before – they were hiding something. A slew of secrets were hiding behind their facades, and for Sakura, disguises _never_ meant well. Her past was a proof of that.

Anxiously, she swallowed, and did everything possible to keep her nerves in check. Her hands bundled up into fists, and she refocused on what the brunette was saying, for she had apparently continued to speak while she was trying to prevent a mental breakdown from happening.

''-everyone here is part of the Brotherhood, so if there are any questions, you can just ask one of us.'' Tenten swept her hand at the group before setting her hazel eyes on Sakura, who was feeling _very_ nerve-wracked at this moment, and slightly panicked. Her stomach churned, and her mind reeled. _What should she do?_

' _How am I supposed to act..? Should I… ask?'_

She was tempted to lift her hand and bite down on her nails in an old habit of anxious relief to calm herself but decided against it. That habit died a year ago, and she wouldn't re-instate it, it's going to continue stay dead. Instead, she clenched her hands even further to the point of pain as a solution to soothe her nerves.

Although she was losing it bit by bit, she couldn't help but wonder, what would the repercussions be, if she decided to speak her mind? If she asked the questions that were on the tip of her tongue? _Would_ there be repercussions if she did?

If she were to be honest, it didn't feel like the right moment for them to reveal their secrets. They were in public space, which automatically raises red flags. Who would reveal secrets in public with so many people nearby? The risk of someone snapping it up is would be huge. Actually, it just feels like it's some kind of joke – that they were only pulling her leg or something.

Her train of thought continued, and in its path, chills crept up her spine when she suddenly realized.

What if it really w _as_ a joke? Tenten had told her to beware of anything, and anything could mean stepping into a prank? After all, there were rumours going around, that sophomores and seniors loved pranking freshmen. Was this maybe it?

She swallowed, or at least tried to, the lump forming in her throat making it a difficult task.

This is what she had feared already from day one, to become the victim of a prank made by the higher-ups. A well-planned and thought-out joke, too, Sakura thought inwardly. It was probably one of their best ones yet, too.

It explained why they were in the Cafeteria, a central hub for everyone on the school. They all had front row tickets to witness how she would be crowned the school's fool, forever ruining her coming school years.

In a desperate attempt to reign in her panic, Sakura forced herself into believing that she was reading into it too much, that she was overanalysing and that it all just was a figment of her imagination.

But her distressed mind reared its head in defence, and decided to bring up another valid point.

These people, they were supposed to be her friends - that's what she had been told, yet they turned out to be the villains.

Sakura's heart constricted and her chest became tight, making it difficult to breathe.

' _How could they…'_

Feelings of betrayal and hurt washed over her. She knew she should have been more alert. Why hadn't she seen it coming? Of course sophomores wouldn't want to befriend freshmen, they're the newbies, why did she let herself be so easily fooled…?

She lifted her emerald orbs from her lap, having directed her gaze downwards, and looked over at Tenten. Just so she could confirm her fear, and watch how they would laugh at her when they see that she realized she had been played.

But upon landing her emerald orbs on the brunette, the pinkette noticed that her expression was still stern, and her hazel eyes intense. And it didn't waver, despite the seconds that ticked by.

Through the haze of chaos inside her mind, a desperate thought popped up.

Tenten still wasn't laughing, and she wasn't trying to repress a smirk at Sakura's foolishness, her lips instead set in a straight line.

' _Why…?'_

She was still looking at her with her intense stare, as if expecting something….

Expecting something from _her._

From her?

What could she possibly expect from her other than tears?

Thinking on it, the only conclusion she could come up with from the whole ordeal which she was currently endearing, much to her misery, was that if it wasn't a joke…, then Tenten must be _baiting_ her.

She was dangling the opportunity of discovering their secret in front of her.

Either it was that, or Tenten had somehow caught wind of her suspicion towards them, about their group.

But the only one she had ever voiced her concerns to was Ino, and she couldn't have told them.

Could she?

No, she was her _best friend_ , best friends don't stab their friends in the back.

' _Why am I even doubting her…? Of course I can rely on my best friend!'_ Sakura thought angrily, suddenly feeling irritated and disappointed at herself for even thinking about it.

It added to her panic, her chest tightening up like a coil, only to release and then repeat. Her heart was beating frantically, trying to cope with the body's reactions. In all honesty, she was surprised her restraint hadn't given yet, despite the amount of pressure she was currently feeling.

Ino wouldn't break her trust, because they were best friends, and she trusted her with _everything._

Since Ino obviously wouldn't break her trust, and if it truly wasn't a joke, then it confirmed her earlier belief.

Tenten was _messing_ with her. Edging her on to just _take the bait._

' _Rude…'_

However, a little light tickled at the back of her mind, telling her to shift her perspective. That little light was her hope, not wanting to give up on the off-chance that Tenten wasn't just fooling her.

Suddenly, realization hit her.

It was a _test_.

The fact hit her straight in the face much like an imaginary train, her body almost flinching in reaction from the realization.

It was a _test_ to see if she would give in to the temptation of asking them about their secret. If she did, she would fail, and she would fail _them_.

' _Guess my anxiousness has its benefits…'_ Sakura thought, confused over whether or not she should be thankful to her mental disease.

But, hadn't it been for her anxiety, she would have never doubted asking her questions, and she would have failed. She would have ended up kicked out of the group, and if that wasn't enough, it would have also most definitely placed her at the bottom of the figurative ladder which consisted of the High School hierarchy.

Relief was flooding her mind, and out of all the emotions she had felt today, relief was the strongest. She had been so damn worried that they would have seen and witnessed one of her low-key points in life if she had broken down, and having managed to avoid it – it was like the world suddenly was lifted from her shoulders, and a deep sigh left her lips.

She had to give them credit, their way of _testing_ people was pretty clever. She gave them that, but alongside their creativity, she thought they had some pretty big security measures to make sure the right people were let in.

It was understandable though. If giving in to temptation was the first thing that came to mind, and the first action to make, then what would stop those kind of people from telling others about their secret that they were entrusted to keep?

Nothing would.

' _Feels like an upgraded version of the trust-fall… And a crossover of Fear Factor…'_

It all made sense now, she thought.

' _Well, kind of…'_

Some parts were still missing, and the fact that she _still_ didn't know their actual secret contributed to that.

But, she figured that Tenten _wanted_ her to know, or else she wouldn't be dropping hints like she was now. The only thing that was stopping her from giving Sakura straight answers was that she wasn't allowed to spoil a secret that wasn't only hers to keep.

There were the others too - the rest of the group that had to be convinced that she, and Ino as well, were trustworthy. Tenten just had to prove to them that they _could_ be trusted.

Which meant that there are more trials to come, and more riddles.

Sakura let out a tired sigh, and noticed that her throat felt very parched.

In less than five minutes - actually, less than even _three_ , had her mind experienced one of the _biggest_ _mindfucks_ in history.

So of course it would be a lot to take in.

And the fact that it certainly hadn't been anything _simple_ , _far_ from it, gave her right to feel parched and mind numb.

If they had to take such big security measures to keep their secret hidden, then whatever it was that they were hiding, had to be something huge.

And it was bothering Sakura's OCD-like behaviour of having to know _everything._

She clenched her jaw harder in both irritation and uncertainty, only to feel prickles of pain. It alerted her that apparently, she had been clenching her jaw for some time.

Slowly, she let it slacken from its lock-down, the action triggering pins and needles to erupt inside her jaw's muscles.

Meanwhile she was solving her locked jaw-problem, she thought how tricky this suddenly had become. What she first thought was a joke, turned out to be something much, _much_ more advanced. She knew she had Tenten's trust, but it was the others she was worried about. Naruto might not be so difficult… but _Neji?_

She might as well surrender now, for it would be Mission _Impossible_ to win over that guy's trust. He literally oozed disinterest and distrust. She threw a glance to the Hyuuga, and he stonily met her gaze.

Yepp, definitely disinterested.

Quickly, she shifted her gaze towards the person next to him, which ironically turned out to be Tenten.

And she was smiling a smile akin to pride, directed at her.

Sakura smiled tentatively back, and hoped she would get the message that she wouldn't back down from the challenge she had presented to her, despite its miserable odds.

Miserable because Neji was a no-go, an automatic loss, but nonetheless, she felt like she should try. She wasn't one quick to give up, she would fight this tooth and nail.

A few more seconds passed, which more felt like a whole eternity than just seconds, before Tenten spoke up once again, this time, a complete change of topic.

''Besides the Brotherhood, there's also the Ball Committee.'' She resumed her previous position, crossing her arms but instead of leaning forward, she leant back against the chair.

''They are the ones in charge of arranging the school dances. There's actually one coming up in a couple of weeks, during winter's break - the Snowball Dance.'' The brunette was suddenly very excited, leaving Sakura to conclude that apparently she liked to go to these dances.

''The school is going to rent a ski-house at a ski-resort for that particular dance. They do it every year. You should sign up, Sakura, you won't regret it.''

''I… might.'' She replied a little unsurely, the aftereffects of the previous topic still coursing through her system, and the fact that she wasn't exactly a big fan of dances. The last one she had gone to only ended in chaos, with the decorations flying everywhere and the punch a hybrid mix of alcohol and fruit beverage. Never mind that people were throwing toilet paper at each other because of a fight between two popular jockeys from the Football team.

Tenten never noticed her slight hesitation and had continued her explanation of the school's organisations.

''Besides the dance… Oh, yeah, there's the Student Council as well. Beware of the people in it, they're all just wannabes. Their Council Leader, is a Senior called Ami-''

''- Who's a nasty bitch. Avoid her like she has herpes, I'm serious.'' Naruto butted in, looking dead serious despite the content of his statement. Tenten only nodded in affirmation instead of lashing out over his interruption, agreeing with Naruto's crude words about the Council Leader. She silently noted that this Ami-girl wasn't someone to mess with, not that she ever had a plan of doing so.

''There's also the different sports you can sign up for, but you already know that since you signed up for handball. The try-outs are already next week so be prepared, they start on Monday after school. If you want I can meet up with you after my class ends on Monday?'' Tenten asked, lifting a questioning eyebrow towards the pinkette, who was feeling all the more calm because the conversation was no longer about secrets and hidden messages.

It was just simple and normal conversation. Nothing advanced or tricky.

''Uh, sure… Should I bring anything?'' She asked in return, unsure of how the try-outs work at this school.

''You're cute… Just bring the usual, training clothes, appropriate shoes, a water bottle. A towel if you want to shower afterwards.'' She nodded in response, and blushed when she heard the word towel, for it sparked the memory of a certain incident that happened two days ago in the locker rooms. An incident she really wanted to forget and pretend it never happened.

Suddenly, the brunette went quiet, not saying anything else but only staring out into the air, as if contemplating on something. Sakura's brows dipped down in confusion, and apprehension. What was it now? Had she done something wrong?

She sent a questioning glance towards Tenten, but the brunette only turned her gaze away towards Naruto and Neji. She sent them what Sakura believed was some kind of secret message, most likely connected to the previous exchange they had had before.

And all the feelings from _that specific conversation_ came rushing back to her. Anguish, despair, anxiety. She worried over the fact that so soon, she was already going to be put to the test, _again_.

As if she hasn't sustained enough mental abuse already.

Tenten finally shifted her gaze back to her and Ino, but still had yet to say anything to them. Sakura met her gaze, and saw that there was this _spark_ that she had seen before, when she first met Tenten, in her hazel orbs. She couldn't help but suddenly feel nervous, along with all other emotions that were raging the third world war inside her.

''We have a question for you two.''

At the notion, Sakura had to swallow, a thick lump once again forming in her throat, this time from the suspension. The air was so tense that it almost was palpable, and she was thrown into a fragile state. It was back to the riddles, for sure this time.

She didn't like where this conversation was going, at all. Tenten's question that she was soon about to ask them, didn't seem to bode well. Thoughts circled around in her head, making everything a confusing mess. Would she fail this time? What would happen if she failed? Would they cast her out?

 _What about her friendship to Tenten?_ Was that going to end just because she failed?

She fidgeted in her seat, her breath harsh and unregulated. She fiddled with the knife and fork that lay to the side next to her plate, and she felt the panic attack coming closer.

All the while, during her oncoming episode, her best friend seemed unaffected.

' _How does she do that? How can she not be so nervous? I'm… I'm barely holding on here.'_

Suddenly, a hand descended upon her shoulder and the pinkette jumped, her heart skipping a beat. Or two. She twisted her neck to see who had gripped her shoulder, it was a golden brown hand, which meant that it belonged to Naruto. Her frantic breathing and panicked state slowly relinquished its hold on her.

 _She was safe, it's only Naruto._

''Calm down, Sakura, it's nothing dangerous.'' His soothing voice and ocean blue eyes staring back at her confidently managed to put Sakura's feelings at bay. She let out a deep shuddering breath, before directing her emerald orbs towards Tenten, this time with more conviction, and less panic. She saw Tenten smirk, before she spoke,

''What do you guys think about risks?''

''I don't know, but it kind of sounds fun, why?'' Ino answered almost immediately. Sakura however, sat there quietly, pondering over the odd question, and at the same time, feeling immensely relieved. It wasn't a hard question at all, or tricky for that matter.

Although, what _did_ she think about risks?

' _What a weird question to ask us…'_

''I guess taking risks is something you do for the adrenaline rush…?'' Came the pinkette's answer, and she hoped her opinion wouldn't be wrong in their eyes.

And it wasn't, it seemed to have been a good enough answer, for Tenten shot Neji a meaningful look and the Hyuuga had nodded, as if confirming whatever it was that Tenten had conveyed to him and Naruto earlier.

''Alright then, good to know. As for why, we're just curious.'' Tenten answered, not disclosing any more information, probably because she wasn't allowed to. But Sakura however, just felt joy over the fact that she and Ino must've passed the second trial.

''Hey Tenten…'' Came Naruto's voice, sounding a little unsure.

''Do you know where Sasuke's at? I haven't heard from him since… Yeah, well, since forever.'' He quickly covered up, a smile gracing his futures. It made Sakura ponder over whether or not he had been about to say something else. _'There's this Sasuke-guy again… Just who is he?'_ Then pinkette wondered. They all seemed to react to Sasuke as if he was some type of leader, but the question was then, why and what would he be leading over? If the assumption was a correct one, of course.

''Sasuke's away, he has business to take care off.'' Came a gruff response from none other but the Nara.

''Well okay, know when he'll be back? He hasn't mentioned anything to me, the Teme…''

''He said he didn't know, but probably sometime next week.''

''Alright. Well, I'm off, class is starting soon and I don't want my ass fried for being late, again.'' The beach blonde said, pushing off the table and walking out of the Cafeteria. The others started to rise as well, lifting their lunch trays to deposit them. Tenten turned to Sakura and Ino before heading off as well,

''We won't be in the Cafeteria tomorrow or anytime this week but, I'll send you both a text message so you have my number. See you in class, girls!'' The brunette waved and then jogged up to the boys, following them out. The crowd then dispersed too, well, those few that had shadowed the group to the exit _. 'Creeps…'_ Sakura inwardly thought. Why were people so obsessed with the group? Was it because they all were in the Brotherhood and had a reputation for that?

''Come on Saks, our classes start soon too, you really got to stop spacing out like that! You're getting worse by the day, what exactly is on your mind?'' Ino questioned, looking at her best friend with a hint of worry etched into her facial futures, her hands firmly placed on her hips. Sakura hesitated before responding. Should she voice her thoughts to Ino about the group they just sat with?

''I don't know, there just seems to be a lot of things those people are hiding, and it makes me nervous. Ino, do you think we really should associate ourselves with them? They seem like trouble…''

''Oh Saks, come on. Every group has their fair share of secrets, you can't blame them for not wanting to tell you all of their secrets on the spot. We barely know them yet, and honestly, they seem to be a really nice group. Besides, Hinata's cousin is part of it, so it would be kind of inevitable for us to ignore them anyway.''

''Inevitable, big word for you, Pig.'' Sakura said, silently conveying that her worry had been eased and that she accepted Ino's words for what they were; of course they wouldn't tell her their secrets right away, she wasn't that stupid, but she did have her reasons to be worried, if not a little scared, to continue their connection to the group. They seemed to be really nice people, like Ino had said, but she couldn't help but think that behind everything, something was hiding, something huge.

* * *

 **Clarification**

Alright, so Sakura went on quite the ramble there, and there's a simple explanation for that; Anxiety. Living with anxiety makes you think the worst, no matter what situation you are in. You could be riding a bike and suddenly yuor anxious mind decides to flash you horrid images of you falling off the bike and scraping up your knees, or even wore, break a bone or two. That's what anxiety does, and that's why Sakura rambles like that, making up different scenarios and just simply assuming the worst.

If there are any other question marks regarding this chapter, either review it or PM me, whatever works for you!


	4. Chapter 4 - The Crash Course

Okay so, there's _finally_ a new chapter up for this story. It has kind of been neglected and to be truthful, my muse of inspiration for this story has sort of disappeared for the moment. Of course, I'm going to finish it, that's a promise, but the chapters won't be updated quite so regularly. I know, it sucks for you guys, and it does suck for me too, because I really like this story. And the fact that it was the first story I've ever published kind of gives it a special kind of feeling.

Anyhow, I've read through the reviews, and most of them are amazing, so thank you! However, there are a few things I have to adress so people don't get confused.

I know that I mentioned this story has drawn a lot of inspiration from Afteraffects, and people can see a few similarities. Yes, this is true, but from this chapter onward, the story actually differs quite a lot from it. So no, this story isn't a rip-off, thank you.

On a more happier note, I have three chapters already fully written for this story, and I'll post those weekly, or at least try to, school is going to take up a lot of my free time from now on until June.

Also, I know the story has a few mistakes, but I'll edit those over time!

Now, enjoy!

* * *

 _Everybody is Somebody,_

 _And Anybody is You._

 _ **\- Shinedown**_

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – The Crash Course**

The week had gone by quite fast, and Sakura had picked up on a few notable things during it. Firstly, the teacher of English Literature would always be 15 minutes late, leaving what should've been an hour and a half of teaching, an hour and 15 minutes instead.

Secondly, her Chem teacher seemed to have a weird affection for guys, if his glances and creepy smiles towards the boys in her class was any indication. It didn't help that he was wearing glasses that looked nothing less than shady, and adding to it all, was the predatory vibe that came from him. In conclusion to those observations, Sakura noted that she'd _definitely_ be wary whenever he was in the vicinity.

And lastly, her teacher in Calculus class… Was the only teacher she deemed to be the _most_ _normal_ out of all the teachers she had. Mrs. Kurenai was strict but in compensation she strived for the students to do their best. But for that to be possible, at least in a rowdy class like the one she was currently in, Mrs. Kurenai had to instil a little discipline.

Emphasis on the word _'discipline'._

Oddly enough though, she kind of actually enjoyed it, despite having been caught red-handed texting to Ino once. And due to the disciplinary standards that Mrs. Kurenai had, she was forced to explain herself in front of the whole class. It wasn't anything embarrassing, _fortunately_ , which the class probably had been hoping for. Instead, it was just Ino informing her that she had to go talk to the Principle about her classes during lunch, since she had been misplaced.

Instead of having History during second period, it had said that she would have P.E., which was _entirely_ wrong, because Ino hadn't signed up for that course. ' _Why would she anyway_.' Was what Sakura had thought when she had read the message. She compensated the P.E. classes by signing up for the handball team instead, which was, quoting her best friend, _"soooo muuuuch more fun!"_

Yes, her blonde best friend _did_ duplicate the o's and the a's to emphasize that it was 'so much more fun'. She was crude like that, underlining the message so it was delivered as clearly as possible.

' _Talk about wanting to state the obvious in the flashiest way, Ino-pig…'_

When thinking of handball and P.E., it reminded Sakura that it was Monday today, which meant that the try-outs were beginning. The handball try-outs were half an hour after the last class ended, however it had yet to reach that time. Unfortunately, she was still stuck in English Literature, with only five minutes remaining. It was a pain seeing the clock slowly tick away the last minutes of class. Instead of actually just being five minutes, it felt like a whole eternity passing by.

She let out a tired sigh, and glanced outside the window.

At least the weather was good today.

Maybe they would perhaps have the try-outs outside instead of inside… _'There I go thinking about the try-outs again… Stop it, Haruno, time won't fly by quicker,'_ She said to herself, suddenly irritated. Her leg was bouncing up and down in a restless manner, vibrating the desk in front of her. Then, something warm landed on her leg, taking her by surprise as well as shocking her from her daydreaming. A glance downwards told her it was a hand, and following the arm upwards, her surprised expression was met with a boyish smirk.

It was none other but Naruto.

She smiled apologetically towards him, and his smirk widened a little as he nodded. She understood what he was trying to tell her by his simple gesture. _Stop bouncing your leg up and down._

She mouthed a 'sorry', and let her leg come to a stop. She turned her gaze away from the window towards the teacher to once again pay attention. He had returned to his desk and was currently shuffling his papers. He then spoke up, his gaze sweeping across the classroom.

''Alright class. We have just gone through the concept and lay-out on how to write an essay according to a University's template. This means that in one of the upcoming weeks of next month, you all will be handed a writing project. You will be using the template which we've gone through and you will also work in groups. And before you ask, the groups are going to be decided by me, so there's little point in picking out your writing companions.''

There was a wave of groans passing through inside the classroom, Naruto being one of them.

''Aw man, come on, Kakashi! Do you really have to hand us a writing project? And not even let us pick our own buddies on top of that? This is more like _torture_ than English class, I swear!'' Came the blonde's protest. A few chuckles could be heard from the students.

''Firstly, Uzumaki, it's _Mr. Hatake_ to you, not Kakashi. And that is very unfortunate for you, but regardless, it has been decided already. No one picks their own group.''

And with a final shuffle of his papers, he finally said the words Sakura had been waiting five long antagonizing minutes for,

''Class dismissed.''

Immediately the students rose up and headed for the exit, Naruto and Sakura one of the first. He grabbed her wrist before striding towards the double doors that led outside, and she had to quickly throw herself over her bag to grab it before being yanked outside the classroom.

''C'mon Saks, I know where Tenten is waiting.'' He said in a hurried tone. She really didn't understand the rush of having to get there, but she tagged along anyway, clutching her bag to her chest. It wasn't like she had a choice anyhow, for his grip was vice around her wrist _. 'Jesus, people like grabbing my wrist like I'm supposed to flee somewhere… I'll have a permanent blue ring of bruises around my forearm if this continues…'_ The pinkette muttered inwardly to herself, trying to follow at Naruto's pace.

He was so much taller than her, for every step he took, she had to take two.

Height difference really sucked sometimes.

The duo consisting of pink and blonde raced over to the school's fountain, which was located off to the right from the main school building. It was beautiful really, the fountain, and definitely spoke of the wealth this school had. It was huge, and made of marble white with teals surrounding it in intricate Aztec patterns. The teals stretched out into a wide circle before meeting well-kept green grass. There were benches and a couple of trees stationed around the big fountain too, but the people preferred to sit on the stone-wall of the water fountain instead.

Those people also included Tenten, along with Kiba. Neji and Shikamaru were nowhere to be found, nor Ino or Hinata. It made Sakura wary, for she knew those two had also signed up for handball. _'Maybe they're just getting their things from the dorm…'_

''What's up, Ten? Hello, asshole.'' Naruto greeted his friends, one on the receiving end a high-five and the other a punch. It was easy to figure out who got what.

''Dude, _ouch_! Was that really necessary? I thought we called truce, man!'' Kiba groaned, while clutching his midriff where Naruto had punched him. Tenten ignored the two idiots and turned towards the pinkette standing off to the side. She lifted her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head before speaking.

''Hi Sakura, you feeling nervous for the take-outs?'' Tenten asked, and patted the spot next to her, telling her to sit down. Sakura moved and placed her duffel bag at her feet after sitting down, and glanced around at the people. They were staring, just like in the Cafeteria, but this time it was more discrete. She wondered why they didn't seem more shocked to see Naruto outside than inside the Cafeteria. Maybe because there were more members of their group there along with him when they sat at the Cafeteria last week?

''Just a little. I haven't played handball for some time, so I guess I'll be a little rusty. I'm hoping the Coach won't mind though.'' Sakura confided in the brunette, her anxiousness for the upcoming try-outs just bubbling underneath the surface.

''It shouldn't be too much of a problem, you got some experience so that'll relieve you a little. And the Coach won't mind, she's more into finding people with the right mind-set and dedication to get it right even though you don't succeed the first time, rather than bring in people that play flawlessly. Those people don't enjoy the sport as it should be enjoyed, and they don't thrive to become better with every throw and pass of the ball. It's only those people that play for both competition and enjoyment that can advance the farthest.''

The mini-lecture had the pinkette smiling, for it seemed that Tenten really loved playing the ball sport, which was good for her, for she knew too how it felt to love a sport like she did.

''I guess that makes me feel a little less nervous, knowing that the handball Coach won't kick my ass for missing.'' Sakura said, and the two girls laughed.

''Missed me much, Saks darling?''

A new voice added in to their conversation, and it was none other than Ino. With her she had Hinata and Neji, but as well as Shikamaru. He stood next to the blonde, closer than what a stranger would stand. _Much_ closer.

' _Something is going on between those two.'_ The pinkette immediately thought. She sent a meaningful stare towards her best friend, who only responded with a sneaky smile and a shrug.

''Never in my lifetime will I miss you, Ino.''

''Whatever, one day you'll come around.''

''Sure, when hell freezes over.''

''Ladies, ladies, if you're gonna argue, can't you do it while mud wrestling? It'll prove for some good entertainment and fun!''

''Yeah, for _your_ part, you perv. Go stalk some other hoe, this one is untouchable for you.''

''What, has Shikamaru already dibbed you?'' At that, Ino's face acquired a nice shade of red while Kiba just laughed, and almost fell into the fountain from leaning backwards.

''I knew it, you two have probably already said your vows and shit- _ah_!'' Kiba went flying, and suddenly found himself very wet, having being kicked into the fountain by one huffing Ino.

''What the hell!?'' Kiba sputtered, flinging his hair to the side to get it away from his face and then standing up, the water cascading down his body from the movement. He wringed his shirt and pants to get as much water out as possible, all the while giving Ino the _'what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you'_ -look.

''You deserved that, don't go make assumptions about stuff you don't know, _dogboy._ ''

''Hey, I'm no dog, and it's true though, you and Shikamaru _do_ have a thing, you just proved it!''

Not one second later did he return to being soaking wet. The blonde bombshell, now enraged, stepped onto the stone wall before lowering her head down and glaring icily down at Kiba, her crystalline blue eyes reflecting the prominent anger.

'' _Shut up_ , I'll kick your ass if you continue spouting stuff like that.'' Came her angry reply, and Sakura then decided to intervene.

''Ino, he was just joking, take it easy. We all know Kiba's brain is 50% air.'' Her blondehaired friend raised an eyebrow, undecided on whether or not she should continue harassing Kiba or just lay off the matter.

She went for the latter.

''Fine, I'll let it go. We got the try-outs to focus on anyway.'' And with that, she turned her heel and went back to her position at Shikamaru's side, albeit a bit further away. Kiba rose and repeated the process of wringing water from his clothes and hair. But this time, there was no remark.

The others who had been spectators to the little ordeal just shrugged their shoulders. It was a typical scene, Kiba always found himself in these situations, most of them self-inflicted.

''Aaalright… That happened.'' Naruto commented.

''Yepp.'' Tenten replied. Then, everyone broke out into a laugh. Well, not maybe everyone, Neji kept his sturdy expression and Ino was still too worked up to find it hilarious, and Kiba just grumbled. The rest however, let out snickers and laughs, even Shikamaru managed a smirk, the corners of his lips slightly pulled upwards.

''We should go get ready in the locker-rooms, come on girls. We got some try-outs to ace.'' Tenten said and rose. Sakura, Ino and Hinata followed in-step with the brunette, waving their goodbyes to the rest of the group.

Not having walked out of earshot yet, Sakura heard a thud and then something akin to an _oomph_. Turning her head, she discovered that Naruto had punched Kiba on the arm, probably for his idiotic comments about Ino and Shikamaru. He caught her gaze and sent her a smug smirk. Sakura raised an eyebrow before reciprocating his smile and sending a thumbs up before turning back to enter the P.E. Hall.

They had been at the try-outs for a while, and soon it would be Sakura's turn to show what she had on the court. She felt prepared, having received a pep talk earlier from Tenten, but also a little nervous, despite it all. She had seen Tenten play, and Hinata. They both _rocked._ They had the technique and the steps down, making some pretty badass dunks into the ball net. Right now it was Ino's turn, and she had barely played any handball at all - the only things she knew about handball was what Sakura had taught her.

Which wasn't very much.

But Coach Anko, she introduced herself as Anko before the try-outs begun, didn't mind her fumbling on the field, for she had been quick to show the basics and tell her how to step and how to throw the ball. The power sat in the midriff, the lower part of the body. The power then surged upwards, where the shoulder becomes the main supporter for the arm when it comes to making the actual throw.

For being a newbie though, Ino was pretty decent. It was her fire and will in wanting to success that drove the blonde forward. Sakura had to hand it to her blonde friend, she picked up the tactic of playing pretty fast, and for that she was proud. Another person had gotten hooked on the sport.

And it was no surprise really, because despite handball not being all too acknowledged, it was a sport worth playing. The handball court was 40 by 20 meters long, with a goal in the centre of each end. From the goal, a semicircle stretched out, which could be called the zone. Only the goalkeepers are allowed to manoeuvre within the semicircle, but are not allowed to leave the zone. The only time a player besides the goalkeeper is allowed inside the semicircle, is when after completing a throw, and they land without the ball. If the ball hasn't been thrown and a player lands within the zone, the opposite team cedes the ball.

When playing handball, unlike other ball sports, one is allowed to touch the ball with all areas of the body. However, to walk or carry the ball is unpermitted, and a punishment is given if caught doing it. Instead, dribbling the ball, with hands preferably, and then pass it on to other players is acceptable to do.

The team itself consists of one goalkeeper and 14 members, excluding the Coach. The maximum amount of players on the field is seven, while the others are stationed off to the sides. Only the goalkeeper has to wear different clothing to differ from the rest of the players.

The said players, are categorized into offense and defence, where the offense players are the left and right wingmen. Being an offense player, they have to be quick on their feet and able to jump wide as well as have excellent ball control. Players in the centre backcourt and the left and right backcourt are also categorized into offense players.

The defence players however, are to the far left and right, as well as the centre. Basically, they are the opposite of the offense players. There is one position that isn't stationed to one spot however, and that is called, in handball terms, the Pivot. The Pivot player intermingles with both the left and right backcourt players, as well as the centre player, backing them up.

Usually, she was the appointed Pivot player during defence because she was quick on her feet. At least, she used to be when she played a couple years back. If she's going to remain as the Pivot player however, remains to be seen.

When it comes to the attack formations in handball, they come in _waves_ \- The first, second and third wave. If one wave fails, the other follows up. There are also different throws in handball, but the most famous one is the jump throw, and it was also her personal favourite. Among throws, there are faints too, which can be used beforehand the throw to, well, _throw off_ the opposite team.

To make sure the game goes smoothly, there are two referees that supervise the games - the goal line referee and the court referee. All in all, the sport is pretty simple to understand and play, it's more learning and applying techniques and being able to pass a ball that makes it more difficult.

A whistle sounded, signalling that Ino had finished her solo part of the try-outs, which consisted of solo performance – to throw, feint and dribble with and without a defender in front, and then in pairs to demonstrate passes. Now that Ino was done, it meant it was her turn. A wave of nervousness shot through her body, but she quenched it and took a deep breath before walking onto the court and take position in the centre where she would start off.

Anko handed her the ball (a small leather/synthetic ball) before blowing the whistle and telling her to demonstrate what she knew.

She started off with the basics – the typical handball jump throw and simply standing at the edge of the semicircle to throw the ball into the net, to show that she knew the techniques behind the throws. There was only a goalkeeper standing at the goal, but she knew that further into the exercise, Anko would call out a person to act as a defender to see how she handled it.

She sprinted forward, each step calculated, and her mind planning ahead on where to land and jump off before throwing the ball. Sakura steered a little to the left, then back right to study the alertness of the goalkeeper. She was attentive to her movements, which meant she was concentrated on her form. Her foot landed a few centimetres away from the semicircle, and she decided to use that step to power her jump. Now positioned in the air, the pinkette twisted her midriff and shoulder, before bringing the arm back to swing the ball, where she made sure to keep the arm and wrist steady, and then, she released.

The ball flew and a thud was heard. She had landed the ball in the upper right corner, the goalkeeper having misinterpreted her throw. She smirked. It was a success.

Next up was to simply throw the ball and try hitting inside the goal, which Sakura managed to land most of her throws. The goalkeeper did deflect a few, but the majority of them hit. Rusty or not, she still had her throws intact.

Now it was time for a defender to take position, so the pinkette headed back to the centre of the court, this time mulling over what feint technique she should use. There was the three step feint, in which she zigzagged her steps in a sequence of three steps before jumping and throwing the ball. The trick to this was to try divert the defender away from the direction you shall throw, or else you would have to reach above the opposite player. And with Sakura being short… Well, she would just have to rely on confusing her opponent. That, or really press some power into her final step to make a high jump, but that required a lot of effort, and she would become tired more quickly. But she still favoured the jump throw.

Another feint was the twist feint. It's a bit more difficult than the three step feint, because not only do you have to plan where the defender would block, but also give up sight in favour of twisting in front of the opponent to the other side and _then_ throw the ball. All this without overstepping the line of the semicircle.

Sakura decided to go with the first one, thinking it would warm her up enough before being secure enough to complete the twist feint. There was also the shot feint, similar to the three step feint, but to really manage a shot feint, the offense player would have to time the shot perfectly, lest the defender smack the ball away.

The pinkette completed all three sets of feints, doing them three times each. She only half failed with the twist feint, the defender managing to catch her off-guard, but none the less, she felt good about it.

Anko then blew the whistle, signalling that it finally was over – she had gotten through the first phase of the try-outs, and she let out a relieved sigh. It was nerve-wracking being up there but once a few minutes had passed, the nerves disappeared and she would become oblivious to the crowd, her focus wholly taken by the exercises.

She felt she had managed to show what she knew, and if it wasn't good enough to get into the team… Well, there was still that P.E. class she could sign up for…

' _I hope Coach Anko found me good enough…'_ She silently thought to herself, her gaze watching the others perform after her. Some of them were good, but there were those that didn't seem to know a single thing about Handball. They couldn't even hold the ball right.

''Hey, Sakura! Come over here!'' She heard someone call out, and turning her neck to see who had said her name, she spotted Tenten on the bleachers off to the right. She waved, and rose to join her, Ino and Hinata, having missed that they all had seated themselves there.

''Why did you sit down there by yourself? Didn't you know we were up here?'' Ino asked her when the pinkette finally made the last set of stairs. They had chosen a spot high above, and Sakura couldn't help but wonder who exactly had chosen this spot, it was so far off… Even though the view was great, it felt more like climbing a mountain, especially after having been on the court minutes ago.

''Not really… I guess I just kinda forgot.'' Came Sakura's reply, and she shrugged her shoulders.

''Of course.'' Ino replied, before continuing;

"After those three girls have played, there's gonna be the last part of the try-outs, the passes. I seriously hope we get teamed up with each other, at least we all can handle the ball, unlike others…'' She heard Ino let out a sigh, and saw how her blondehaired friend threw a glance to the girl that at the moment occupied the court. The pinkette followed her line of sight, and immediately understood what exactly Ino had been hinting at. The girl on the court was stiff, and her hands shook. She looked lost, and definitely didn't seem to belong there. She had even gripped the ball with both her hands, and if Sakura interpreted it right, then the girl didn't really know how to hold the ball correctly. In fact, she looked like she didn't even know what to do, just standing still on the court.

It made the pinkette feel pity towards her. She seemed intent on wanting to learn to play the sport, but she didn't even know how to start off. Usually, you do some research before signing on to join a sport, or at least that's what she did before she started playing handball three years ago.

''M-maybe she just chose t-the wrong sport…'' Hinata quietly interjected. Ino turned towards the purplehaired girl, and lifted an eyebrow.

''You might be right, but still, she could be paired with any of us, do you really want that?''

''… N-no…''

''Exactly. It's not that I'm against her trying on a new sport, good for her that she is, but the repercussions will be ours. I mean, if she can't pass a ball, then how are you going to show what you're capable of?" Ino huffed and seated herself down, clearly irritated by the chance of getting paired up with someone… _Less_ qualified. Hinata just looked down onto her lap, deciding to not answer to avoid getting on Ino's bad side. Sakura however, didn't think her friend's behaviour was rightful, especially not towards a friend.

''Ino, you haven't played much handball either, so don't downgrade others because they don't learn as quickly as you. That could've be you on the court right now, maybe she thought the same about you.'' Sakura pointed out.

''That's not me, because I'm here. And at least I know how to hold a ball, clearly she doesn't.'' Ino waved a hand towards the girl, who had just recently started off making the dunks. Sakura glanced towards her and saw that her footing was a little off but she compensated for that with the power of her throws.

''She has good throws, and with a little fixing, she can become a decent handball player. I don't get it, why are you so spiteful?'' Sakura asked. Something was up with her friend's behaviour, because she never acted like this if someone hadn't gotten on her nerves.

Her blonde friend went quiet, and everyone in the group turned questioning gazes at her. She then let out a sigh.

''Alright alright… That girl on the court – she started some shit with me last week because I apparently have stolen _her_ Shikamaru. I'm just friends with him for God's sake, and besides, you can't _own_ people. But since she's some crazy fangirl fanatic of him, she wouldn't listen. So she got on my nerve and said some things, and I punched her. There. That's why I don't like her.'' Came Ino's answer.

Everyone went quiet, no one daring to break the tense atmosphere that had settled over them, everyone too busy to mull over what Ino had shared.

Tenten then chose to levitate the awkward silence, not bearing another second of it.

''If she's so much of a maniac, then why don't you just ignore her? Those girls won't lay off until Shikamaru himself says anything.''

''That's the thing, Shikamaru's _too lazy_ to say anything to his _maniacal_ fangirl club. It's like he doesn't even care that they're throwing themselves at him - it's like he doesn't care how his _friends_ are treated because he can't say otherwise…'' The pinkette then finally understood the underlying meaning of why Ino was in such a sour mood.

She had started to develop feelings for Shikamaru.

She had noticed it when her blonde friend first met him along with the rest of the group. But now… Ino was hurt over the fact that Shikamaru wasn't seeing her effort in getting him to reciprocate her feelings… Instead he let girls throw themselves over him and he didn't even seem to mind, according to her blonde friend.

It had to be a tough blow, that the guy you like… Doesn't notice your efforts. The pinkette glanced down before walking over to her best friend and wrapping her arms around her in a comforting manner.

''It's okay, Ino… It'll be fine…'' Sakura silently whispered in Ino's ear, and the blonde responded by hugging her tight.

''I hope so, Saks… I hope so…''

They then let go of their embrace, and Ino sniffed. She was back to her old self, none of her previous weakness shown on her face.

''Just in time you two, Anko's waving us down. And Ino, don't worry about the passes too much, Anko will demonstrate the passes first before letting us perform them. You'll do great.'' With a pet on the blonde's shoulder, Tenten proceeded to walk down the stairs, the other girls following in tow. Sakura turned around to Hinata, before speaking.

''Hey Hinata, I hope you're not upset about Ino's behaviour… I don't want you to be sad over that.'' The purplehaired friend blinked in surprise, not expecting Sakura to, well, reassure her. But then again, they were friends, and Sakura had always picked up on her emotions better than anyone. She simply had a caring nature, despite her past… Hinata gave Sakura a small smile.

''I'm a-alright, thank you, Sakura. I-I just wasn't expecting h-her outburst l-like that…''

''We know Ino can be irritating at times, we all got our moments.''

''Yeah, t-true…'' Sakura smiled at her purplehaired friend, and proceeded to jog down the rest of the stairs to get in line with the other girls. It was time to show her full potential.


	5. Chapter 5 - Judgements

It's been some time, 5 months in fact. That's almost half a year. Seriously, I still believe it's just March or something, and not August. It's kinda saddening. Anyway, I did mention in the previous chapter that I would update three chapters but, I reconsidered because I wasn't feeling it, you know. The chapters I had written were just, not right. So I had to go back and make some changes. In compensation for the extremely long wait that I apologize soo much for, you get two chapters in a row. I hope you enjoy them!

Thanks so much to those that have reviewed, followed and favved this story!

I'll reply to those reviews here actually, just like I do in my other story, "Reclaiming His Humanity".

 **RalitsaR -** I think I've found my inspiration once again, and your review was extremely helpful, thank you!

 **Guest 1 and Guest 2 -** Sasuke is going to be in one of these two chapters, so your wait is over! Oh, and thank you!

 **TooLazyToLogIn1 -** As contradicting as your name is, thank you for reviewing! They're definitely sketchy, and seriously, I people can actually seduce with their eyes, it's almost creepy.

* * *

 _We're Not Gonna Be Just a Part of Their Game,_

 _We're Not Gonna Be Just the Victims._

 _ **\- Simple Plan**_

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - Judgements**

The try-outs had been a success for the girls. Coach Anko had been lenient in the last try-out practice, as she declared they were free to choose their own partners. The declaration had been a relief for the whole group, especially for Ino. She didn't have to worry over the possibility of getting paired with the girl she held copious amounts of disdain towards, since it was more or less eradicated by Anko's mercifulness. Although, Sakura inwardly wondered if Ino's feelings towards the girl actually almost bordered on hate, but she then shrugged her shoulders, letting the matter go. It wasn't her business, and she wasn't about to stick her nose where it didn't belong. If Ino wants her help in the ordeal she has going on with the, in Ino's own words, _feminine annoyance_ , she would simply ask her for it.

At Coach Anko's declaration of free choice, Sakura had sent the blonde a smile before she walked over to her designated place that was off to the right side of the court. She set up position and got ready to pass the ball, the synthetic leather ball firmly held between her hands.

For the last part of the try-out session, she had chosen Hinata as her partner to play against while Tenten took Ino - with the explanation of teaching her to pass correctly. And knowing that it was the best option out of the few they had, Sakura only agreed with the brunette. Tenten was the one that had most experience in the sport than any of them, and so she would be the better teacher, not to mention be the biggest chance of having Ino succeed with the try-outs as well. She would learn the quickest under Tenten's tutelage, and that was what she needed if she was to remain on the team.

 _If_ they got accepted into the team to begin with.

Even though it was a confidence boost, Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly worried. She wasn't sure if Ino would be able to reach up to Coach Anko's standards, despite having Tenten aiding her currently. What if she didn't make it, but they did? It would mean they would have to ditch Ino, leaving her all by herself during most afternoons because they had practice to go to…

The thought didn't sit well with Sakura, and it pulled at her heartstrings. It didn't really matter how well Ino did, the chance that it would play out exactly like that… still existed.

Although she sincerely hoped it wouldn't.

Being partnered with Hinata during the last part of the try-outs had earned the pinkette a fair collection of bruises, them marring her skin in several shades of purple, yellow and greens. She was sure there was an _especially_ big bruise somewhere on her body that told of the purplehaired girl's raw power of her throws. Unfortunately for _her,_ it was a fact she had to learn the hard way. Although she would've preferred being told than acting as target practice. Maybe going up against Hinata wasn't the best choice she had made in her life.

But even if it was tough, the ball battering her body black and blue, Sakura felt proud of herself. She herself had only missed a few passes but in compensation she had managed to land some pretty good ones on her friend. Not to mention that the bright side to it all, was that they would at least have matching sets of bruises.

Feeling content, and more or less exhausted, Sakura left the court together with the girls, a smile gracing her lips.

Tenten and Hinata dismissed themselves soon after they had exited the courtyard, stating that they had some things needing to be taken care off, thus leaving Ino and Sakura alone. The duo walked together in a leisurely pace back to the dorms, Ino following after Sakura to drop off her bag and pick up some other, _'important'_ things before going off again, this time to look for Shikamaru.

As much as Ino said she was just _'friends'_ with him when talking in front of the other girls earlier at the try-outs, Sakura knew the truth, the blonde having confided in her on their trek to their shared room.

Flashback –

'' _You don't believe I'm just friends with him, do you.'' Ino stated more than questioned. Sakura nodded her reply, because she already seen through her friend's facade from the beginning._

'' _I just don't know how to handle this, I don't know what to do! I've… I've never felt like this before for someone. And it never came so sudden either… One day I just knew something had shifted and I knew my heart had fallen for him… God, I sound so cliché, don't I?'' The blonde said miserably. She was staring down at the pavement, and her shoulders were slumped, a very unethical pose of Ino. She always walked with pride, confidence filling her steps. This, this was an Ino who was conflicted, and was calling out for help. Sakura was there to lend her advice and strength, but even she didn't know how to handle this._

 _She had never been in a relationship, and she definitely didn't know much about boys. She was too insecure… And when her mother died, there just wasn't any time to go search for 'Prince Charming', and no one would bear her burden anyway, they wouldn't know how to handle it._

 _That's what she believed, at least. She had too much luggage for anyone to want her, and so, here she was, at 19 years of age, still untouched. For Sakura though, it wasn't too much of a loss. Since she had never experienced a relationship, she didn't know what she was missing out on. Ino however, had been in a great relationship a year back, with Sai, but it had ended tragically with him cheating on her and then leaving her to deal with it herself. Sakura had been her rock back then, just as much as she would be her rock now._

'' _I think you should just follow your instincts, Ino. You seem to like him a lot… Maybe take it slow?'' Came Sakura's pretty insecure answer. But it seemed good enough, because Ino sent her a smile and let out a relieved sigh._

'' _Maybe I should. There's no point in going fast, so I'll just follow what my heart tells me. God, that is soo cliché, I have to stop this. Sakura, give me something else to think about. Right now.'' The pinkette blinked, her mind not catching the sudden 180 degree change._

'' _Uh… Tomatoes are actually fruit, and not vegetables…?''_

'' _That's the first thing that comes to your mind? Seriously? You gotta lay off the textbooks, you're starting to sound like one. It's just a matter of time before you start look like one.'' Sakura stared incredulously at her blonde friend, taking an insult at her words._

'' _You pig.''_

'' _Forehead.''_

'' _Bimbo.''_

'' _Touché''. They both erupted into laughter. Such were those two, oddly enough best friends, insulting each other both left and right but still remaining closer than ever._

Flashback End -

Sakura had seated herself on the bed off to the right, _her bed_ , the one that _wasn't_ full of magazines and-

' _-is that a thong?'_ Sakura inwardly thought, her face twisting into a bewildered grimace at the rather odd sight.

\- Before flipping up the computer screen to finish an essay that wasn't due until Monday. But having nothing else to do, she figured that she might as well get it done and over with, erasing it from her to-do list. She let out a tired sigh before putting her headphones on and bringing up the assigned material to sift through the instructions.

It had to do with ethics and morale, she soon discovered. And apparently, the assignment wants her to write her interpretation about breaking rules by using the five different ethics that existed – rule ethics, consequential ethics, intention ethics, situation ethics, and virtue ethics. If one ethic wasn't applicable, then she would have to argue why she had to choose another ethic to replace the inapplicable ethic. In summary, the assignment almost spells the word _boring,_ because the instructions were few, and because it had to do with irritating questions that she would much rather discuss verbally than type down into a lengthy essay.

In addition to the rather boring topic, there wasn't exactly limit cap for how much she should argue and discuss the results and conclusions either - however, the teacher had said about five pages would do upon assigning the essay to her class.

' _She makes five pages seem easy…'_ Sakura thought inwardly to herself, before letting another sigh escape her lips. She hunched over her laptop and finally got to work, with the motivation of the sooner she started, the quicker she could be done with it.

 _Question 1:_

 _If a person runs up to you and asks you to hide him from the other person chasing him, would you choose to reveal his hiding place, or would you tell a lie to keep him hidden when the chaser asks you of his location? Explain with the use of the different ethics how you would react, and why. Be detailed._

' _I have to argue why I should lie to save the first person from the other person… But also think on why the other person is chasing the first person…? Can they make it more confusing?'_ Sakura grumbled, while typing down her perspective of the imaginative situation. By using rule ethics, she would have to break a rule to live up to another - because by hiding him, she would break the duty of telling the chaser the truth, or, she would reveal his location and then break the duty of keeping him safe.

' _No matter what I choose, I'll be breaking that ethic. But if I use consequential ethics… Then the outcome of my action would be good, depending on what I choose to do… But what if the first person is a bad guy, and the second one is trying to catch him? Then that rules out the consequential ethic… So, virtue ethics, then?'_

Her mind was too consumed by the essay to hear the knock on her door. When it suddenly opened and something moved in her peripheral, Sakura jumped from her spot on the bed and directed her gaze towards the intruder.

It turned out to be _Hinata_ who was the sneaky intruder that had entered her room.

'' _Geesh_ Hinata, why are you sneaking up on me like that?! I could've thrown the computer at you!'' Sakura exclaimed, startled, a hand placed over her heart that was beating rapidly from the rather surprise visit of her purplehaired friend.

And to be on the safe side, she decided to move the computer from her lap onto the bed before she swung her legs over the edge, lest she would actually follow her words through and throw the computer at the girl.

' _Just in case…'_

Inspecting her friend after shifting position, Sakura gave the female Hyuuga a questioning gaze.

''So what brings you here?''

Inwardly, she mulled over the different reasons why Hinata would show up at her doorstep at a time like this.

And by the look of things, after having swept her gaze over the girl, she seemed rather nervous, Sakura silently observed. Hinata was wringing her hands and her eyes were downcast.

' _Maybe she came to explain why she told Tenten to find me…? I forgot to ask her earlier… Or maybe she just wants to talk about something that's bothering her, it sure seems like she has something on her mind…'_

The thoughts spun around in her head, all without answers.

Noticing that Hinata wasn't moving away from the doorway, she patted the spot next to her and told her to sit herself down.

The quiet Hyuuga walked over and slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, while she herself returned to her previous crossed-legs position, no longer seeing the necessity in remaining in the other, more uncomfortable position.

''I-I came to explain w-why I told Tenten t-to find you a-and Ino… And w-why I know her from before. I figured you m-might have some questions about it.''

Sakura only nodded at her friend's words. So she _did_ come over to talk about Tenten approaching her that first day of school, and why she mysteriously knew who she was and her name.

''S-she knows my cousin Neji, they're friends… And sometimes she comes over w-with Naruto and t-the rest of the group to see him. I didn't h-hang with them so much, t-they usually kept to t-themselves, but sometimes they w-would let me join. Tenten didn't mind me being s-so quiet, so we became good f-friends. I figured that since she has been h-here one year a-already, then she could s-show us around. And w-with Neji wanting to watch over me… I-it seemed like the best option. You're n-not mad at me for doing so, r-right?''

Hinata was still staring at her lap after she had finished her explanation, so she never saw how Sakura's eyes teared up, her emerald orbs glistening from unshed tears.

Hinata had worried that _she_ would be mad because she told Tenten to help Ino and her out? That Tenten became their friend and introduced them to the boys?

It was stupefying, and incredible at the same time.

Hinata cared much about them, and valued their friendship. She had even gone so far to find someone to help them all out during their freshman year…

The pinkette leaned over and pulled Hinata into a bone-crushing hug, the Hyuuga's eyes widening at the sudden embrace.

She couldn't formulate any words that would tell of how grateful she was, so she showed it through action instead.

''Oh Hinata…''

''I'll _never_ be able to be mad at you. _Thank you_. Thank you for being so thoughtful, you're a wonderful friend!'' Came Sakura's muffled response, her entire face pressed into her friend's shoulder. She then let go after a few passing seconds, and leaned back. The smile on her face yet to recede.

''So what classes do you have tomorrow? I think we have Calculus and Chem before noon, right?'' Sakura swapped topic, feeling that this entire ordeal was a becoming a bit too overwhelming for her to handle, it was so heartfelt and emotional, and her quota for that had already been filled for today. Dealing with an emotional Ino, which was very, _very_ rare, was quite draining, and atop of that there had been the try-outs.

So her day has been quite eventful, and it had yet to end, apparently.

She stifled a yawn, and blinked tiredly.

' _I should sleep after Hinata leaves…'_ Sakura noted to herself. She was exhausted, and the repercussions of her day were catching up with her.

''We have Calculus t-together, but in t-the afternoon I have history. S-so I end early tomorrow.'' Hinata replied slowly, a thoughtful expression on her face. Probably because she was recalling her schedule, something the Hyuuga had memorized from day one, unlike Sakura, who was still having trouble remembering hers.

''That's lucky. I got Calculus in the morning with you, but after noon I have Chem class. Worst combination of lessons, seriously…'' She grumbled her complaint. Calculus was one thing, it could be fun sometimes because the teacher was pretty okay, but Chem class with _Professor_ _Kabuto_ …? That's a whole new league.

''I believe s-so…'' The female Hyuuga then rose, heading towards the door, while Sakura followed her with her gaze.

''I-I have to leave now, I n-need to get home before my p-parents get angry, but t-thank you for listening, Sakura.''

''Hey, I'm always here for you, that's what friends are for.'' She quickly replied, and gave Hinata one of her rare smiles before waving goodbye before she closed the door.

When the familiar _thunk_ of the door closing reached her ears, Sakura closed and placed the computer on the floor and quickly changed to her pyjamas before turning the lights off and pulling the blanket over her form, intent on catching some sleep.

There was no way she was going to continue write on the essay, despite having only started.

Just as her head hit the pillow, she was gone, having for once fallen into a peaceful sleep. Her mind wasn't distressed like usual, as it hadn't managed to overthink or overanalyse anything. Instead it was calm and relaxed, letting the pinkette sleep out her exhaustion, for she would need it, the upcoming weeks bearing bad omen for all students, - _Homework_.

Two weeks had gone and passed by, and it was now halfway into the third week. As predicted, the pile of homework was piling up - and along with the ever-growing pile, came the students' complaints.

Everyone talked about homework as if it was a deadly disease, and Sakura couldn't help but slightly agree with them, even though she kept herself up to date - the nights spent with just her and her books, papers and computer, unlike the other students.

Her friends just sighed in resignation whenever Sakura called it a night to go study. However, it wasn't always the reason why she calls in early… It was the nightmares that kept her up most of the time. She feared that every time she would close her eyes, the nightmares would begin. And they certainly would, just like they had done for the past three years.

Not to mention that last week the dream about her mother had reoccurred… Leaving Ino having to handle her during one of her lowest moments. Sakura hated it really, the breakdowns. She didn't want Ino's pity, she didn't want _anyone's_ pity. She was supposed to be strong, dammit!

She let out an irritated huff of air, the strawberry blonde tendrils hanging in front of her face moving with the exhale of air before once again settling into their original position. Annoyed by it, the pinkette twisted out her hair from her tie before replacing it into another makeshift bun, this time including the hanging tendrils of hair that had come loose.

She shifted the backpack hanging on her back, rolling her shoulders in the process as they had started to protest from the weight of the schoolbooks within. It wasn't enough that students had to suffer through classes on a daily basis, but they had to carry heavy loads back and forth too. Whoever said that knowledge didn't hurt, has apparently not seen the true form of knowledge; several piles of thick books packed in one bag to bring back and forth in order to acquire said knowledge. Although, she was used to it by now, despite the tiring, daily trips.

While she studied in her dorm with the books and computer surrounding her, the others partied. The girls had tried dragging her along to the frequent parties, wanting her to ditch the books and join them, but she declined, every time. Having to share minimum space within a throng of inebriated people wasn't something she particularly liked, nor preferred.

Not to mention that people, _especially the guys_ , had serious cases of the grab hands. Ending up getting molested wasn't on her bucket list of things to do before she died.

However, the girls had been relentless in their asking of wanting her to join the upcoming weekend's party. Actually, they weren't really asking, they were _demanding._ She was being forced to go the party, no buts about it. As soon as she had opened her mouth to protest, both of her friends had placed their hands on her mouth to stop her from speaking, and well – it worked. She never got to protest and so she now found herself going to a party. A _frat_ party.

 _No_ thanks to her friends, it was now officially time for her to experience her first party ever since arriving at KHS, because on Friday, the Boyhood is planning on holding an event to celebrate their successful recruitment as Football players, which was one of the reasons as to why they were _forcing_ her to go; for the boys' sake. It was an argument Tenten and Ino had pulled on her to get her to come with, because they knew that mentioning Naruto would have her resign immediately to their wishes, simply because she valued the friendship she had with the blonde. He was goofy, and easy to get along with, and if she were to be truly honest to herself, she felt that he was starting to be the brother she never had, despite them only being friends for just about a month, a little less, even.

She was surprised upon hearing that _everyone_ in the Brotherhood had managed to make the team, including _Naruto_ of all people. She didn't know the rules when it came to American football but, she figured that the same rules for any sport applied; to be part of a team on campus, the team members has to reach a certain quota in order to stay on the team. If someone was failing school, they risked getting thrown out.

And so it was surprising news, and positive, of course, to her that Naruto actually made it. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had _made it_ , despite the label everyone was plastering onto him, even, to her shame, her. She giggled quietly to herself, a small smile forming on her face as she walked. He might not be academically smart, but in compensation he aced everything practical instead.

And since Naruto is _Naruto,_ it was simply typical of him to demand a celebration to be in order, which in turn meant a huge frat party. The _same_ frat party that she was going to attend, albeit forcefully.

And _naturally,_ because frat parties were the big deal at KHS, there was going to be a lot of people coming to the party. The pinkette could only imagine how many groping 'mistakes' that were going to take place during it. Probably a few too many, which in her opinion, was a very legit reason to skip out.

But there was no skipping this party, both because of her oh-so-beloved friends, but also because it was dedicated to the Brotherhood, first and foremost.

She inwardly groaned to herself for having to be in such a stupid predicament. Her mind was cursing Naruto's OCD-like need of having to celebrate everything, and cursing Tenten and Ino's argument of her disappointing Naruto and the other boys if she didn't show up.

' _Why didn't I see it coming that they would play on my kindness? Obviously it's something they would do just to get me do things I really don't want to do. Why must they ruin my evening, my books work just as good for company, and they don't grope either.'_ Sakura mumbled to herself as she shifted her backpack once again. The straps of the weight-packed bag were creating red marks on her shoulders from where they were pressing down, and the skin was getting irritated. It looked like she had speed marks on her shoulders if she were to lift the shoulder straps, the red lines contrasting to her natural pale skin.

In the distance she heard children playing about in one of the playgrounds at the park, and her eyes lifted from the ground to watch them as they jumped the monkey bars and scaled the climbing wall. The sounds of playing children were much more preferred than those that were currently on campus. She felt boxed in, and had to escape the school grounds for a while for some much needed relaxation and moment of peace.

It was something she couldn't have when on school property. There were students _everywhere,_ no matter where she went, and they were all fired up about the upcoming party and talking about the new football team. Where ever she went, it was the only thing she could hear.

Well, either that, or she heard complaints about the copious amounts of homework they were all getting from the teachers.

Eventually, she got too fed up with hearing the other students' nonstop conversation about the _same_ thing, and so she decided to head to the nearest store to buy something simple, taking the route through Konoha's park to give herself some much needed peace, and a breath of air that wasn't full of testosterone, hormones and whatever else that signified _students._

' _One more second on-campus and I would've officially gone crazy…'_

The pinkette's mind wandered about as she walked, her feet scuffing the dirt path once in a while. She ended up thinking back on the past month, reflecting over the things that had occurred. It had been an _extremely_ action-packed month, and she knew she was lucky for having survived the first month of school without being harmed, unlike others. She had Naruto, and maybe the other boys - _maybe,_ because they were still suspicious of her, to thank for that.

And Tenten, obviously. She, Ino, Hinata, and just a few others, were the only ones that hadn't become victimized by the sophomores and seniors as they played pranks on the rest of the freshmen, their excuse being 'a true introduction and initiation to KHS'.

She wasn't so sure it was a 'true' initiation though, for those usually partook right at the beginning of school, where _teachers_ and the _Principal_ were present, but apparently, KHS abided by a different set of rules.

Her theory that she had conjured up at the beginning of school ended up proven right after all – sophomores and seniors _do_ play pranks on the freshmen. She had heard a few stories, and even become witness to some of their pranks, and they all varied from outright horrifying to simply hilarious. She remembered that the first prank they had played happened at the beginning of the first week, where freshmen students had been lured into the P.E. Hall - only to have glue and glitter showered onto them before several snapshots were taken. Those pictures had later been spread across the internet the following day.

The next prank towards the freshmen, had happened during the afternoon of the aftermath of the first plank, on the Tuesday, where the freshmen had been shot with paintball guns from afar. She had been standing off to the side near the fountain when a squad of sophomores and seniors lined up close to her. One of them had actually _winked at her_ before he took aim and fired away.

The squelching noises of paint hitting skin caused Sakura to slightly wince, her facials twisting into a grimace that could only reflect the pain the freshmen were currently feeling. She had never been part of a paintball fight before, so she could only imagine their pain. A pang of guilt hit her when she realized that she could've been one of them, if not for Tenten and Naruto.

She had to thank them for having her back like that.

Following the rest of the week, the pranks just continued. Sakura heard of freshmen getting wrapped up into toilet paper before being thrown into the school's fountain, while others had their lockers rigged with a spring and a plate full of whip cream so that when they had opened their lockers, they were smacked in the face with whip cream.

A High School version of smack cam, really.

And so it went on, only ending until last week, which was about two weeks into school. And to top it all off, the older students had ended the prank-week by putting up one last epic show, which involved one unfortunate chosen freshman student.

It was one of the two pranks she had been a witness of. The elder students had glued the poor freshman student onto the seat of a scooter, with his hands taped onto the gas button so he couldn't let go. She had been walking in the corridor when it happened, and had she not skydived to the side in time, she would've been run over.

Sakura was _eternally_ grateful for the fact that Tenten and Naruto had kept her and her friends out of trouble, because it was just stupefying how dangerous some pranks were. Some were fun, but others… Others went over the line.

The guy on the scooter had ended up at the infirmary after crashing into a wall, while the students' rigged lockers caused several concussions. The weirdest thing though, was that the elder students hadn't been expelled, as they should have been according to school regulation. They were clearly breaking school rules.

But since KHS was a rich kid's school, they probably had free passes to use whenever they were sent to the principal's office, because she still saw them around, particularly the guy that had winked at her, his oddly white hair a very recognizable future in the sea of blondes and brunettes.

The pinkette sidestepped an incoming bike, the ring of its bell bringing her out of her reverie. Her eyes looked up, and she saw that she was close to the junction where she had to make a right turn. Further ahead there was a set of stone stairs, and she descended them as well, her backpack shuffling with each step.

Once reaching the bottom stair, she once again took to the right. The pinkette could spy the bridge that connected the park to the other side of the river, which was the way to the store.

While walking towards it, she shifted her eyes to the left, the beeping of horns catching her attention. She was just about to look away after finding the source of the beeping but instead ended up doing a double take as her feet halted mid-step.

And that was _literally speaking._ She had been right in the middle of taking a step, and being the clumsy person that she was, she almost tripped at the very sudden stop.

However, back to the situation at hand – her eyes weren't just met with the on-going traffic jam, but in fact met with something else entirely.

Something she hadn't expected, _at all._

Looking back at her, was a matted black helmet with an onyx coloured visor.

Her breath hitched as her mind tried to process the sight before her.

The helmet directed towards her _had_ to be some kind of coincidence, that whoever it was looking at, was standing a couple feet behind her, and not _her_ personally. Just like that situation where you accidentally return someone's wave that wasn't meant for you but the person _behind_ you, and you'd end up feeling awkward and embarrassed for waving because, again, it wasn't meant for you.

It was the same thing that was currently going on right now, or so she dearly hoped.

She could barely think otherwise.

But, despite the different scenarios and the many excuses that were playing out in her mind to downplay her current situation, she just simply _knew_ that the stranger wearing the helmet was looking at her. She _felt_ it, the tingling running up her spine a very definite sign.

But not wanting to give up hope yet, her mind stubbornly refusing to realize and accept, decided that one last course of action should be taken, just so it could _really_ be sure that it wasn't paranoia that was causing the situation.

So, listening to her persistent mind, she took a few slow steps forward on the path before her, all the while her eyes remained trained on the ominous black visor that was on the other side of the park.

Her movement was followed by a slight turn of the helmet, and her stomach dropped.

So it wasn't paranoia. It wasn't someone standing behind her, in fact, it wasn't someone else at _all._

It was _her_.

The realization had shivers running up her spine and goose bumps erupting all over her skin. She swallowed with difficulty, the lump in her throat hindering the process to go smoothly. Nervousness overcame her as her mind started to run rampant.

Why was he looking at _her_? As far as she knew, she didn't know anyone that owned a motorcycle, and even if she did, wouldn't they wave to each other?

And since she didn't know anyone with a motorcycle, her mind once again tried to find an adequate answer that would make sense as to why he was looking at her. There was actual little chance that whoever it was, even knew who she was. She wasn't important or well-known.

Her gaze, even though it was locked onto the ominous black visor, managed to take notice of the rather expensive bike the stranger was straddling in her peripherals. The bike's sleek model clearly told her that the bike definitely wasn't one of the cheap ones… In fact, it even looked to be a customized version, the paintjob on it following a black-to grey-to navy blue colour value, all mixed into the intricate designs. It only added to the fact that there was little chance that he knew who she was, because he was rich, having a motorcycle like that, and she didn't exactly _have_ such rich friends.

' _Except for Hinata… And Naruto… And probably the rest of them too…'_

The urge to blink was heightening with every second that passed by, but her widened green orbs couldn't rip themselves away from the stranger, from him. The overwhelming feeling of being observed and scrutinized in a critical and judgemental way, as she was some kind of fruit in a shop that was being touched and felt around by potential buyers, caused even more shivers to run up her spine, and she swallowed once again.

She was losing the staring contest that was going on between her and the stranger, as she _still_ couldn't pull her eyes away from him, no matter how much she tried. It was as if an unknown force had suddenly come and taken a hold of her, the invisible energy circling around her, pulsating and then washing over her form, sinking into her body and taking control of it… And her mind was eerily quiet too, there wasn't a single thought in her mind that bounced around, it was just… silent. As if someone had flipped an off-switch.

But then suddenly the moment broke, the trance disappearing as if was never there to begin with.

The stranger on the motorcycle had reclined from his relaxed position, his gloved hands gripping the handles as his body tilted forward, and with only just a backwards glance, he took off, a plume of smoke the only thing remaining.

And it all happened in a matter of seconds.

She was left standing in confusion, her eyes blinking with barely any pause in between, almost as if it compensated for the lack of blinking during the past minute or so.

For only a minute had passed for the whole instance to occur.

' _What just happened?_ ' Was the only thought that swirled around in her mind, her eyes directed towards the dirt road once again. She stood there for a few moments, not moving, barely even _breathing_ , before her feet finally decided it was time to wake up from their slumber as they quietly and slowly shuffled onwards, shortening the distance to the bridge.

The same bridge where he had been only moments ago.

' _What, why… How…'_

Her mind was a jumbled mess, and she couldn't tangle any of her thoughts free. But then, in a burst of irritation, she shoved the whole thing inside a box, labelling it _'freaky things, do not open'_ before moving it to the back of her mind.

' _I'm just going to pretend that whole freaky moment didn't take place…'_

And with that thought in mind, she directed her gaze forward and walked with determined steps all the way to the store.

Her strong will to ignore the whole occurrence was enough to keep it locked away, as it didn't resurface once.


	6. Chapter 6 - Unsuspecting Expectations

_You Were Told to Run Away._

 _ **\- Bullet for My Valentine**_

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – Unsuspecting Expectations**

Friday came quickly, and the pinkette was currently lying face down on her pillow while Ino raved on about what kind of outfit she was going to wear, all the while she was feeling absolutely miserable.

' _Must I really go…'_

"Saks! Stop lying around like that, we must find something for you to wear! Something _sexy_ too…!"

"Why something sexy? Can't I just go there in a pair of jeans and a shirt?" Ino almost screeched at her blunt suggestion.

"No! You are certainly _not_ going to go to that party looking like a lowly wannabe! And haven't you heard, _Sasuke_ is going to be there, so you have to look nice either way."

' _There's Sasuke's name again… Just who is this guy?'_

"Who is Sasuke?" Came Sakura's rather blunt question, her emerald orbs questioning. Ino however, immediately stopped what she was doing, the clothes in her hands landing on the floor with a dull thud. The blonde looked over her shoulder, her gaze slightly accusatory as she half-glared at the pinkette.

"You don't know who _Sasuke is?_ Besides the fact that he is _the_ most gorgeous and handsome-looking guy you could ever meet? Have you been living under a _rock,_ Saks?!"

The pinkette just shrugged, not really knowing what to make of it all.

"I know he is in my English-and Chem class, but he hasn't shown up for the past three weeks…"

"That's because he is a busy man, I mean, he's totally _loaded!_ "Ino's dreamy glance suggested to the strawberry blonde that she wasn't only referring to him being rich, that in fact, she was implicating something with the rather obvious innuendo.

' _Typical Pig…'_

As if she somehow knew of the insult she had uttered within her mind, the blonde whirled on her, sending her a full glare this time that had Sakura leaning back a few inches.

"Since he is going to be there, and it's going to be your first impression, means that you simply _have_ to look good, there are no buts about it!" And with that, the blonde went back to digging through the countless clothes lying on the floor.

Sakura only let out a deep sigh, knowing she was in for it this time.

"I'm not wearing short-shorts Ino, that's the only requirement, okay." Sakura said, before she shifted back to her previous position, however this time she was facing upward rather than suffocating against her pillow. The feeling of defeat ran through her veins, weighing her down.

The girl trio were picked up by Neji in his car, with Tenten accompanying him. They crammed up in the back, Sakura ending up in the middle. Tenten turned around, a wide smile on her lips.

"You look _hot,_ girls! You all are going to slay tonight, for sure!" She exclaimed, and there were three different reactions to her statement. Ino flung her blonde straightened hair over her shoulder and giggled while Hinata, who had met them outside, only blushed and looked down at her lap. Sakura however, wanted to scowl, because what she had been forced to wear was close to _ridiculous_ in her mind, but instead she just sighed.

"I'm blaming Ino for this, just so you all know." Tenten chuckled, and lifted an eyebrow.

"But why, that white skirt matches perfectly with the sleek black crop top you're wearing! Why are you complaining?"

"Because I'm showing too much skin!"

"Don't be stupid, you're showing the _right_ amount of skin, enough to keep the imagination going." Tenten said and winked. The pinkette blushed, because she knew what the brunette was insinuating.

"No one is going to imagine anything that involves me."

"That's going to be difficult, I might already be doing that." Tenten continued, as her lips curved into a smirk.

"I'm not even going to reply to that." The strawberry blonde huffed in reply, and to accentuate that the conversation was indeed over, she crossed her arms and looked out the window to the left. Tenten only laughed at her childish action before returning to looking at the road.

Soon enough they arrived at the party, the blaring of music and flashing lights indicating that the party was in full swing already. There were a couple of people mingling on the front yard, which was _huge,_ and Sakura almost forgot how to breathe as her eyes took in the view from the car window. When Naruto had mentioned that there would be a party at his house, she had expected an actual house. But his definition of _'house'_ , was obviously not the same definition as hers.

For Naruto's house wasn't a house, it was a _mansion._ With perfectly cut bushes in their front yard and perfectly laid stone paths leading up to the marble stairs of the mansion.

It all was just, _perfect_.

' _Naruto's family is definitely wealthy…'_

All five stepped out of the car, soft thuds of sneakers and the clinking of heels on the laid down stone of Naruto's driveway signifying their exit. Ino immediately smoothed down her black halter neck dress, wanting it to sit _perfectly,_ as Tenten pulled at the straps of her short-shorts after they had stepped out of the car. Sakura however, just stood back with Hinata, who wasn't following the same dress code as the previous two, as she was wearing dark blue high-waist jeans along with a pearl white top that didn't show much skin. The fabric of the top flared a little when she shifted, and one of the thin straps fell down her shoulder, but the Hyuuga was quick to pull it back up. The blush she had from earlier in the car returned, and Sakura almost laughed a little at the expression Hinata had. Her friend was so modest, even more modest than herself, and she was actually quite glad that there was another girl that didn't particularly like to dress… as provocatively as her other two friends. And of course, those two were none other but Ino and Tenten.

Sakura was feeling a little unsure of walking up to the house- _mansion_ , she corrected silently, her gaze fluttering across its surface down to the stone pillars that bore the roof that jutted out from the house- no, _mansion._ Not to mention that there were a lot of people here already, and to attempt finding Naruto in the throng of people would just be impossible.

' _He did say he would meet us here, though…'_ She bit her lip nervously, her eyes sweeping in front of her, trying to spot her other blonde friend.

Ino however, being the eccentric and confident woman that she was, just yelled for them to follow her, as she walked with quick steps up towards the mansion. How she managed in the tall black stiletto heels that she was wearing, was a question that she would probably never get an answer to. She only let out a sigh before following after them, Hinata in tow.

When they entered through the wooden double doors, they were immediately met with people standing in the hallway, talking to each other. Everyone was holding a red paper cup in their hands, and Sakura guessed that it was booze in them. What else would it be anyway?

Ino had already managed to zone in on the table that standing off the side, which was right where the kitchen was. The table contained said red paper cups with bottles of even more alcohol standing behind them. There were also smaller cups standing in front in rows of the red paper cups. Most likely they were jello shots if the pinkette had to take a guess.

She might not be a party veteran like her best friend, but she did know the basics.

Her blonde friend dragged Tenten over to the table, leaving her alone with Hinata. Neji had already gone off somewhere, but she didn't know where.

Sakura gestured for Hinata to follow her, digging through the many groups of people. The whole mansion had pretty open plains, which made it easy to see where everything was. Straight ahead was the backyard, and it was the place that had the most space.

And most likely Naruto would be there too, because there was a pool in the middle of the backyard. She had learned pretty early on that Naruto was a daredevil, he would challenge anyone to anything, including pool fights. It was just who he was, it made life "interesting".

' _My life is interesting too, without stupid stunts…'_

And she was right in her assumption.

When she and Hinata arrived at the backyard, she heard Naruto's loud voice sounding across the gathered crowd. She shifted her green orbs to the pool. There he was, in all his glory. It looked like he was in the middle of a pool fight too, which almost had Sakura rolling her eyes. A brunette sat on top of his shoulders, fighting another that was atop some other guy's shoulders. They fought with long plastic cylinder things - she didn't know what they were called.

' _Mature, Naruto.'_ She mumbled inside her mind.

But it was a funny sight, despite the childishness. They _were_ fighting with children's toys. However, her attention was quickly pulled away when she felt Hinata tense, her hand that was clasping hers squeezing tightly. She looked over her shoulder at her friend, noticing that her gaze was pinned towards something in front of her. Following her line of sight, she discovered that the purpleheaded girl had also spotted Naruto in the pool. Her brow scrunched as she wondered what had her suddenly tensing up, and she casted a questioning gaze towards her.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" The sound of her voice pulled the Hyuuga out from her stupor, and she gave a small smile, but it didn't quite reach up to her eyes.

"A-ah, nothing, don't worry about me. Why don't we go look for Ino and T-Tenten?" Deciding that later was a better time to discuss what caused her to become tense, they went back inside to look for the other two that had accompanied them. Naruto's attention was currently elsewhere, and he wouldn't notice them until he came out of the pool anyway.

An hour and a half passed by as the party kept on going. There were noticeably more people now, and some where already drunk out of their minds. She didn't know how many she had to steer away from her and Hinata, but there were simply too many to count. Ino and Tenten had nonstop been on the dancefloor, and at some time before, she had been dancing with them as well, but left when too many venturing hands tried to grab her in inappropriate places. And also because she couldn't leave Hinata by herself for too long.

Naruto had yet to get out of the pool, she knew because she could hear his loud voice coming from outside. She felt aggravation prickle at her when glancing at the clock that was hanging on the wall, it was currently 11:30 PM, and he had yet to even welcome them to his own house-uh, _mansion._

' _That's it, I'm going to go pull Naruto out of the pool, it's time he actually says hi.'_ And with that thought in mind, she told Hinata that she was going to fetch him. Not wanting to stand alone, her purplehaired friend followed after.

She had to use her elbows to dig through the mass of people standing her way, and bend her body from side to side to avoid tipping their cups over. There was no chance that she would risk getting booze spilt all over her if she could avoid it.

She arrived at the pool's edge before calling out her blonde friend's name.

"Get your ass over here, Naruto!"

Mentioned blonde was quick to turn his head towards where she was standing, a shocked expression on his face as he hadn't predicted her voice. It quickly faded however, when his royal blue eyes landed on her green ones.

Immediately a huge smile crept up onto his lips.

"Hey, Saks, you made it!"

' _Really, Naruto?'_

"'I made it' one and a half hour ago, you idiot! Now get over here and say hi!"

The blonde just smiled sheepishly at her before turning and murmuring in the girl's ear, who was standing next to him, that he had to do something first before she could climb him. Sakura was pretty sure he meant something else than just climbing on top of his shoulders.

' _Unbelievable.'_

He swam up to the pool edge where she was standing, before crossing his arms on top of the edge, leaning on it. Sakura just looked down at him, her eyebrow slightly arched.

"I didn't know what time you all would be arriving, so I came out here… I guess I kinda, _forgot?_ " He smiled apologetically at her, his eyebrows tilted upwards as his brow creased. No matter how irritated she wanted to be with the boy for _forgetting,_ she just couldn't bring herself to scowl and instead matched his smile with one of her own.

"I can't be mad at you, even though you deserve it." His eyebrows shifted, and he quirked a smile as he laughed.

"That's the point, it's no fun when you're mad at me, Saks, because truth be told, you scare me when you're mad."

' _How sweet of him to admit he's afraid of me…'_

"But you're totally hot when you're mad, so it might actually be worth it."

' _Aaand he ruined it.'_

Sakura couldn't help but narrow her eyes even though her lips twitched into a small smile.

"I should step on your fingers for that."

"Ah, but you won't. Right Saks?"

"Stop being right."

"Why, is my left side hotter than my right side?"

"That doesn't even make sense, Naruto."

" _You_ don't make sense, Saks."

"Why am I even dignifying you with a response…"

"I don't know, you probably just love me too much."

"Doubtful." Naruto chuckled then, and he looked up at her with his typical mischievous expression.

"Tell me Saks, do you have your phone on you?"

She should've seen it coming when he asked her that, but her observation skills were not her top priority at that moment.

"No, why?"

"Cool, cool. Nah, I was just curious."

Sakura sent him a suspicious glare, but before she even managed to think up a reply, she saw him gesture something, and feeling several pair of hands against her back, her mind puzzled the pieces together.

' _Crap…'_ Was the only thought that ran through her mind as she was sent flying, and screeching in the process, before landing with a big splash in the water. Small water bubbles escaped from her lips as her eyes opened and took in the fact that she was now submerged under water, and that Naruto now had hell to pay for it.

She quickly sprung up and cracked through the water's surface, her hair flipping back in an arch as she whipped it back. Her green eyes quickly zeroed in on the one responsible for it, and she smiled evilly when seeing the glint of fear within his blue eyes.

The pinkette swam over to the blonde who was desperately climbing over the pool edge, wanting to get out of reach from her grabbing hands, but unfortunately he wasn't quick enough, as her hand encircled his leg and pulled him back down into the water.

"Saks, please, I'm sorry! _Have mercy!_ " The blonde screeched as he frantically paddled his arms to get away from her. Sakura just shook her head and followed after him, wrestling with him to get her much wanted revenge for his stunt. When he once again became submerged under water, she finally deemed her revenge fully paid, and let him come back up. He sputtered mouthful of water from his lips and shook his head to rid his blonde tresses from water. His hand ran through the wet mop of hair as he heaved a breath.

"That was so mean, Saks, I could've _drowned_!" He said, his hands frantically gesturing towards himself.

"That's what you get for telling your buddies to push me into the water!" She responded, her finger pointing towards where she had previously stood. When she had been _dry._

"It was just a funny thing to do! _Live_ a little, Saks!"

"I _am_ living! Preferably on land where there is oxygen!"

"Now you're overreacting, Saks, there's oxygen in the pool too."

"Not under the water, you dimwit."

"You were barely under for _three_ seconds. _You_ however, held me under for much longer!"

"Revenge is sweet, Naruto."

"Unbelievable, and so evil…" He mumbled under his breath, his gaze shifted to the side.

"Are we even now, then?" He then proceeded to ask, his gaze settling back on her. Sakura curved her lips in a smile, and shrugged.

"I think so."

"You _think_ so? No more drowning attempts?"

"They were not drowning attempts, but yes, we're even, Naruto."

"Promise?" Sakura lifted an eyebrow at this, and he shrugged.

"What, I'm just taking safety precautions."

"The _only_ time you've taken safety precautions…" Now it was Sakura's turn to mutter under her breath, simply because out of all the things he's done, he decided to be cautious _now,_ but either way, she took the hand Naruto had offered her, sealing the promise.

"Alright good, now let's get outta here and properly say hi. I believe Hinata misses your company."

Oh, that's right, Hinata had gone with her to fetch Naruto. She looked over to where she had last seen her purplehaired friend, and upon spotting her, it confirmed that yes, she was still here. Sakura smiled a sheepish smile towards her friend and she shook her head, silently communicating that Naruto was hopeless. Hinata responded with a small smile as she too shrugged, silently telling them both that that was just how he was.

Unfortunately.

After having fetched towels for them both, the trio went inside the house, wanting to find Ino and Tenten. Apparently, there was something planned. What it was however, Naruto didn't want to say.

It had her curious. She really wanted to know what was going to happen. Naruto being Naruto, always had pretty cool, and sometimes, or rather more often than _not,_ idiotic schemes planned.

They spotted the blonde and brunette duet standing on top of a table dancing, holding onto their red cups desperately so they wouldn't drop them while they swung and twisted to the blaring music. Sakura really just wanted to face palm at that moment. Of course her friends would be dancing on a table, it was destined to happen. The last party she had been to the exact same thing had happened, and she had been forced to stand up on one of the tables with her blonde friend and dance. It was the last time she would be near Ino on a dancefloor, knowing that she would automatically be pulled into her friend's drunk ideas.

Because she was pretty sure that Ino was beyond tipsy at the moment.

The same thing went for Tenten.

What she couldn't comprehend however, was how they managed to keep their balance. Her green orbs eyed their high heels, thinking that it was against the laws of logic for them to not have fallen down or tripped or done _anything_ of the sort yet.

They were pulled off the table by her and Naruto, and while they had gone to do that, Neji had once again joined them. He stood close to Hinata, and glared at anyone who even looked her way.

' _Overprotective cousin…'_ Sakura noted to herself as she held a drunk Ino upright.

"Ino, come on." She said, pulling the blonde to the group. Naruto asked Neji to get them two bottles of water as he handled Tenten, who currently was hanging off his form and giggling.

Yeah, seeing her _giggle_ was as surprising to her as it was to anyone else.

Tenten wasn't one that usually giggled, and if she ever did, she would just outright deny it.

Neji returned, holding two water bottles in his hands, giving one to her for her drunk friend. Sakura unscrewed the cork and told Ino to slowly drink the contents so she could sober up a little. She just complied, grabbing the bottle and holding it close to her chest. Sakura was thankful that Ino didn't protest, or else it would've been much more difficult to handle. And honestly, she currently didn't have the patience to deal with protests, having been thrown into a pool and then almost slipping when getting up that caused a nice, purple bruise to form on her left knee.

"Shikamaru is waiting for us on the second floor." Neji informed, and the group followed after Neji to meet up with Shikamaru.

Soon, the whole group was gathered at the balcony that overlooked the neighbourhood. Well, there weren't too many neighbours to begin with, it looked almost deserted upon further scrutiny. Sakura leaned over to Naruto to ask why.

"Well, this house is more like our summer house really, so there aren't too many people here at the moment since summer season has passed."

Huh, so their mansion wasn't even their real house. How rich is his family, exactly…?

"When is _Sassukee_ coming?" Ino slurred next to her. Sakura's eyebrow immediately lifted upon hearing Sasuke's name being mentioned.

' _Oh right, Ino said he would be at the party tonight…'_

"He's on his way. That's why we're up here to begin with." Naruto answered, a smirk visible on his face.

"On his way?" Sakura questioned.

"You'll see." He only replied secretly.

Somehow, that didn't sit all too well with her.

Ten minutes passed by, and just as she was at the end of her patience and about to question Naruto what exactly it was they were waiting for to see, a sound from her right was heard.

Make it several sounds, actually.

She turned her head and leaned over the balcony railing to spot what the sounds were coming from, and upon looking over, she discovered it was the loud humming of _racing motorcycles._

So what he wanted her to see, was a motorcycle race.

Sakura watched in awe as they neared, the sleek motorcycles a beautiful sight. She studied them, and as her eyes landed on the one that was in the front, her eyes suddenly widened.

 _It couldn't be… Could it?_

Her heartbeat elevated, and her palms felt unusually warm as they were gripping the railing.

But her sight wasn't deceiving her. It was, in fact, none other but the same bike she had seen earlier during the week.

 _The exact same bike._

She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. The same nervous feeling that erupted when she first saw the bike came rushing back. And inexplicably, she felt like she just wanted to turn around and run down the stairs.

She didn't know why, but the need to simply _escape_ washed over her, but then her mind argued against her, telling her that she couldn't leave Ino here, alone. And even if she did escape, where would she go? She came here in Neji's car, and it would probably be the only way back, too.

' _Why do I feel like I'm suffocating?'_

"Hey, Sakura… Are you alright?" The tentative voice of Naruto speaking quietly to her had her turn her gaze towards him, despite that she was so erratic. Upon seeing his worried expression, her mask then cracked. The cheering crowd had been tuned out.

"I don't know, Naruto…" She responded, and immediately she was enveloped in a warm hug, the heat coming from none other but Naruto.

"Ssch, it's just a race, Saks. Nothing bad is going to happen." He soothed her. She felt his hand bush through her hair, the motion slowly calming her down.

' _Another panic attack…'_

She didn't understand at all how it was triggered, but that was just how it all worked… Her mind was always just one step away from the edge, and if there was just too much going on… It would only push her towards the brink. It wasn't the first time this had happened to her, but it was the first time it had happened in the vicinity of her new friends. None of them knew of her mental state, of how broken she really was.

… And they wouldn't get to know either. It won't end like it did last time, for she wasn't bound to repeat the same mistake twice.

With that resolve, Sakura slowly pulled herself together, her breath steadying as her heartbeat slowly returned to its usual rhythm.

She didn't take notice of Neji critically watching her from the side-line.

She murmured to Naruto that everything was now okay, and he slowly he let go of her. He wasn't entirely reassured, and so his hand remained at her back. It was a rather comforting reassurance from his side.

When she heard the humming of the engines once again, she lifted her gaze up from the floor and looked out over the masses gathered masses below.

The bikes were returning, but in a much slower pace than before. The leading bike was the same one that had been in the front before when they passed the first time, and Sakura had to fight her body's instinct to tense up. She should be ecstatic of discovering who the stranger was that had been observing her, but for some reason she wasn't.

The bikes came to a stop, and the crowd erupted into high-pitched cheers.

They bikes were settled on the curb and most owners of them hopped off to meet the crowd. Her eyes wandered over them, watching as they pulled off their helmets one by one.

All but one had revealed their identities to the ecstatic crowd, and shifting back to the one she had first observed, she discovered that he had yet to take off his helmet.

' _Who is he…?'_

Just as that thought came to mind, did his hands slowly reach up and unbuckle the helmet. She felt the anticipation run through her veins, even though she was still feeling unsure about wanting to discover who it was that was hiding beneath that helmet.

Maybe he was some kind of creep?

When the helmet slipped off, it felt like reality had come and given her a head turning slap. Her stomach dropped, and her heart skipped a few beats before it painfully sped up its pace, it pounding frantically against her ribcage. Her hands that were gripping onto the railing slackened, as green orbs filled with disbelief widened at the completely unexpected sight.

' _You have got to be kidding me…'_ Rushed within her mind as her gaze tried to come to terms with what it was seeing.

The swirl of wild black hair, matched with a pale complexion and dark mesmerizing obsidian orbs… She could recognize that sight _anywhere._

She had never anticipated that she would ever encounter him again, but by some cruel play made by fate, was she once again faced with the same guy that had seen her embarrassing display of stupidity outside the P.E. Hall one early morning.

' _Oh god, why.'_

Her slackened grip on the railing was renewed as she clenched it tightly. The crowd erupted into even louder cheers, and as her eyes were still fixated on him, did her mind register what they were shouting.

" _Sasuke! Sasuke!"_

" _It's Sasuke!"_

" _And he still remains undefeatable!"_

" _You rock, man!_ "

.

.

.

Wait.

He's _Sasuke?_

The _same_ Sasuke that Ino mentioned, and that is Naruto's constipated best friend along with the rest of the group she had started hanging out with?

Fate had never been kind to her.

... And it still wasn't. Why hadn't she expected this…?

Then, as she tried to come to terms with her disbelief, the charcoal orbs of Sasuke slowly shifted over to her, locking with her vivid green eyes from up on the balcony where she was standing.

It was most definitely mirth that was playing within his black swirling pools as he too seemed to remember who she was.

'… _Kill me now, please.'_


	7. Chapter 7 - Impact

Chapter 7 now officially up! It's going to be a while before I post another chapter after this one, as school is starting up for me next week, so I hope you'll enjoy this one! Also, before I go on to the reviewers and such, there is an author's note at the bottom of this chapter that I'd like you guys to read, it's important as it's about this story!

And so, onto the reviewers!

 **RalitsaR** \- Thank you! It warms me to hear that!

 **Guest 1** \- Here you go, then!

 **Guest 2** \- Oooh, they might, or might not - only I know ;). But as for interactions, you got them in this chapter!

 **kenoodle** \- Thank you!

As for you guys that have followed and favved, a huge thank you to you people!

And so, enjoy the read!

* * *

 _If You Only Knew,_

 _How I Refuse to Let You Go,_

 _Even When You're Gone._

 _ **\- Shinedown**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Impact**

The fired-up fans standing on the front yard of the mansion greedily greeted the 15 some racers, the high-fives and bro-fists being dealt like they were cards. If there hadn't been a spectacle before, it sure was now when the highlight of the party had just arrived.

The black tresses that were matted against his scalp were ruffled, and they soon returned to their typical state – its artistically messy style. The people before him all screeched his name, and hearing the loud cheers pulled at the corners of his lips a little, forming the sinful half-smirk that was his trademark. He observed the masses of people, before slanting his eyes to the second story floor of his friend's house, knowing that they all would be standing there.

He then felt amusement upon being met with a familiar sight, the recognizable viridian green orbs glimmering with surprise and disbelief when they too registered the fact that he was there.

And since everyone was calling his name, he pretty much knew that she had most likely figured out that her group of friends, were none other but his group of friends as well.

The mirth from within his obsidian orbs wasn't reflected back at him, in fact, he was sure that there was disdain hiding within her colourful orbs.

' _So she remembers…'_

The fight-or flight feeling within in her was growing the longer they prolonged eye contact with each other. But to think she would be able to pull away from his mesmerizing gaze?

No.

Just, no.

That'd be next to impossible, if not the _impossible itself._

' _Why does he have to be the same guy? Why?'_

She heaved a silent breath through her parted lips, her lungs filling up to the brim with much needed oxygen before she exhaled it all in one go. She remained stock still, even though her whole body tingled, her nerves prickling under her skin like static.

The sensations were causing a dizzy spell to erupt within the pinkette's mind, but she pushed it away. Now was not the time to see things as they shouldn't be seen.

' _So you can fully take in the sight of the Sex God before you…'_ A disembodied voice then whispered in her mind, however it only caused her to feel utterly _horrified_ , because her subconscious was thinking up such - such _crude_ thoughts!

Not even two seconds later was the thought deleted from her mind, for she did not want to have any association with it, at _all._

She felt a tug on her elbow and her gaze immediately shifted over to the one that was trying to gain her attention. And she was thankful, for now she found something else to look at, as she was abruptly whisked away from the staring contest between her and, _Sasuke._

"C'mon Saks, we're goin' downstairs." Naruto called to her as he pulled her along to catch up with the rest of the group that had gone ahead of them. Ino was definitely a bit more sober she noted, as the blonde wasn't staggering anymore, and she was more aware of her surroundings. Shikamaru made sure to keep her walking in a straight line though, because the death contraptions stuck on her feet weren't exactly the most stable things to walk in.

Especially not with alcohol running through your veins.

Tenten had Neji walking idly next to her, but his hands were hanging neutrally at his sides. However, the pinkette noticed him throw subtle glances her way from time to time.

' _Interesting…'_

They pushed through the crowd on the bottom floor, but elbows weren't needed because the masses parted like the Red Sea before them. She guessed it was because they were high up in popularity, so they had that kind of effect on the people around them.

' _That's a nice benefit of being popular…'_

Soon they were out in the open, heading for a straight line towards Sasuke, and Sakura was still fretting, although she had managed to compose herself a little.

At least she wasn't as jittery as she had been up on that balcony.

Naruto was the first one to personally greet Sasuke's arrival, and they did that cool bro-hug thing that always had Sakura intrigued. However, when her gaze flitted over to Sasuke, she saw how he minutely looked annoyed over the hug.

' _Maybe he's not the touchy-feely type…'_

He did seem rather stiff, even though he looked kind of relaxed at the moment, with his hand idly holding the helmet and with his stance cocked to the side.

She almost gulped when Sasuke glanced over to her again, his half lidded gaze and smirk making her heart thunder. She understood now what Ino meant with him being drop-dead gorgeous, as she saw the temptation… But she wasn't going to be like every other vain girl that was at the party. They flocked around him like crows, and one particularly leggy blonde was standing _extremely_ close to him, her hands grasping his arm to hang off of. Personally, she thought it just yelled _'desperate'_. Apparently, they others came to much the same conclusion, and she watched on as Shikamaru carefully shifted the intoxicated blonde away from Sasuke before greeting him with a head nod. Neji did the same thing, but instead of following the same pattern as the guys, Tenten actually _swaggered up to him_ and _gave him a hug._

Naruto laughed at the sight of Tenten throwing her arms around Sasuke, embracing him for a few short seconds as she half-yelled a hi and a congratulations in his ear. The eyebrow raise from him told it all.

He did look a bit more amused than when Naruto had hugged him, and she figured that Tenten didn't often hug him… Maybe she did it just because she was a little too drunk?

It did make sense, if her usual demeanour was anything to go by.

"Well look at that, Tenten's become a nice little softie, eh?" Naruto commented as he walked back over to Sasuke and clasped his shoulder, chuckling.

"Dobe. Why did you let her become this intoxicated?" Sasuke murmured, his eyebrow still lifted. His dark gaze shifted over to the hand on his shoulder, but he did nothing to shrug it off.

"She's just having fun Teme, can't blame her for that."

"I'm not, I'm blaming you."

"Ah c'mon, not you too!" Naruto whined. He had already had his ear chatted off by Neji, telling him that he should've been with them from the start, and not playing around in the pool. Now there were two people pinning the blame on him for his stupidity.

The time ticked on, and the group went back inside as the party returned to its full swing, with people dancing in the hallways and fighting in the pool with the plastic sticks. Not to mention pouring alcohol down their throats for the rest of the night.

Sakura had ended up taking a few shots anyway – with Naruto, Ino and Tenten peer-pressuring her, telling her to just _live a little._ It wasn't anything dangerous, she was in the company with her friends, in their _safety_ , so there was just _nothing to worry about._

The alcohol actually managed to loosen her up a little, and she momentarily forgot that Sasuke was in the same vicinity as her.

But what she didn't notice because of the lack of attention, was how Sasuke had analytically watched her through-out the night, his charcoal eyes always keeping her within his peripherals.

The next morning came bright and early, and the pinkette awoke to something repetitively prodding her legs. Painfully so, too.

She murmured a _"what the hell"_ as she groggily rose from her spot on the couch, her hands rubbing her eyes to clear up her vision. Her bleary gaze shifted to the source of the prodding, and discovered an unconscious Naruto sleeping across her legs. It had been his hands that were punching her shins.

She pulled her legs from under him, and his head hit the couch with a thump, yet he still remained sound asleep.

' _He's like a zombie.'_

She heaved a deep sigh and stretched her arms up. A few joints in her back popped, and she smiled at the sensation.

It felt _good._

But then, it all came rushing back after her short moment of relaxation – the party, Ino being drunk, Sasuke's arrival…

 _Sasuke's arrival._

' _Oh god, Sasuke… It was him after all then…'_

Her head thumped back as she processed the night's twisted events… There had been a motorcycle race, where ironically the winner of the race was the same person that had watched her at Konoha's park before… Not to mention the one to witness her being almost _naked…_

And that person also turned out to be Naruto's best friend.

She let it slowly sink in, all the revelations swirling inside her head, puzzling themselves together. Unlike what she felt for Naruto when she met him for the first time, she was actually quite wary of Sasuke… Mostly because she didn't know his motive behind watching her earlier in the week, or why he had been gone for a whole three weeks from school. Nobody is gone for three weeks like that without a very good reason.

And she was afraid of what that reason might be…

' _No Sakura, he's not like them. He may have similar futures to him, but he is not HIM…'_

The image of red eyes and massive black hair flashed behind her eyes, before it was gone less than a second later.

She could maintain a healthy distance away from him as a solution to this new predicament... Then she wouldn't have to interact with him except for when it was necessary. He was a huge question mark, and she didn't know whether or not he might accidentally trigger her attacks because of the many similarities…

But how is she going to be able to pull it off without giving off suspicious hints to the rest of the group? Neji seemed to be quite observant, always alert of his surroundings, which poses a problem in her otherwise flawless plan.

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a few seconds, before reopening them and then shuffling off the couch.

She had to find Ino and see if she was alright. God knows where she ended up sleeping, or rather, where she passed out from intoxication.

' _Why do you do this to me Ino?'_

With quiet steps she searched the house, and later discovered a snoring Ino sleeping in one of the bedrooms.

Together with a sleeping Shikamaru.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and she quietly shut the door behind her before making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her throat was parched, and thinking further on it, she was actually feeling quite hungry.

But, she would have to wait for Naruto to wake up, she couldn't just go through his house as if it were her own…

Her bare feet thudded against the wooden floor of the kitchen, and she padded over to the kitchen sink. It took her some time searching through the cabinets to find the glasses, but she immediately felt better when cold water soothed the insides of her sandpaper throat.

Just as she was about to refill her glass though, a soft sound from her right caused her to drop the glass in the sink, the loud _clink_ echoing in the kitchen. The pinkette quickly whirled around, her eyes wide from having been taken by surprise.

The sight she was met with wasn't exactly what she had predicted, and it wasn't entirely pleasing, either.

Leaning on the kitchen counter across from her, was none other but Sasuke. He was eyeing her carefully from where he stood, his arms crossed and sweatpants hanging low on his hips, his shirt slightly ridden up…

' _That's not what you should be focusing on, snap out of it!'_

Her eyes quickly snapped back up to his alert abyss orbs.

"Uh… H-hi…?" She uttered meekly, not sure of what she should say to him. However, she was only met with silence, as her eyes remained captivated with his. She then felt a pinch of irritation of him just standing there in his glorified silence, and it overshadowed the slight feeling of fear, uneasiness and nervousness that she felt around him.

"Can I help you…?" She asked then, one of her hands gesturing towards him.

Once again she was met with silence, and this time she furrowed her brow, the aggravation building within her cracking her composed mask.

"You feel uneasy around me."

Her mouth dropped open slightly as her apple green eyes widened a little further. She didn't expect _that_ kind of reply.

She pondered over how he came to know that, the fact that he did indeed make her feel uneasy when he was nearby.

"What makes you say that?" She questioned, sounding a little defensive as she stood up straight, meeting his provocative words head on.

The tips of his lips curved slightly as his eyes slanted over and his eyebrow lifting. He then lightly gestured with his hand towards her, before offering a reply.

"You just proved it." Now it was her turn to arch her eyebrow, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I didn't?" Her reply was tinged with uncertainty, and she knew that _he_ knew of how unsure that answer was.

Suddenly, Sasuke pushed off from the counter, and slowly sauntered over towards her. Immediately her body tensed up, and her hands came up to grip the edge of the sink behind her.

"No?" Came Sasuke's quiet voice, as he came to a stop in front of her. Her eyes shifted up to his own, seeing that he was towering over her 5 feet 4 frame.

" _Then why did you tense up at my approach?_ " He whispered close to her. She could literally _feel_ the exhaled air from his lips pass by over the shell of her ear. She shivered at the odd sensation it caused.

"B-because… I-I didn't…" Her answer spoke for itself, and it more than clearly confirmed his statement.

"There is little point in lying to me, _Haruno_ …" And with that, Sasuke turned and walked away, fully exiting the kitchen, leaving her standing there slightly out of breath and in shock.

She had barely even known who he was up until yesterday evening, and he was already unravelling a part of her, and messing with her mind…

' _I'm going to have to watch myself around him… I can't let anything show.'_

An hour ticked by before the rest of the party slumbers awoke from their trance-like sleep, and a groaning Naruto bashed the coffee machine with more force than what was necessary.

"Work faster you stupid machine, I need to awake!" He muttered under his breath, his blue eyes tiredly glaring at the humming machine in front of him.

"No matter how many times you hit it, it's not going to make your coffee quicker." Tenten commented from her spot at the stove. She was currently making them omelettes, while Shikamaru was setting the table. Neji was up somewhere on the upper floor along with Hinata, and Ino was in the bathroom, taking a shower.

She said she "stinks worse than Naruto's unwashed socks", which the pinkette interpreted as _really bad._ Of course, her insulting comment was met with a call-back from Naruto.

"Hey! My socks are _just_ fine!"

"No, they are not, they stink like hell." Tenten stated, agreeing with Ino.

"Two against one, now those are unfair odds, guys."

"Chicks before dicks, Naruto." Tenten sung with her voice, before entering into the kitchen to start on the omelettes.

They all were seated at the table, Ino entering right after Sasuke did, each grabbing themselves a plate with two omelettes each on them. Sakura sat at the right end of the table, quietly nursing a hot cup of tea between her hands. She watched over the brim of her cup the interactions of the people surrounding her.

Barely a month ago all of them except for Ino and Hinata had been strangers, but as time passed on, they started to worm their way into her life.

If she were to describe it in another way, she would say that they added colour to her otherwise black-and white canvas, which also contained several areas of empty grey.

Grey, that was slowly being overtaken by the bright colours of the people around her.

And it made her feel happy, _joyful_. It had been just Ino and her, and occasionally Hinata, for so long. Of course, there was once when she had a similar group of friends like these people, but those memories were repressed, shoved into the back of her mind where all other painful memories were. She didn't like to think back on her times with them, as they only reminded her of how they had just abandoned her…

She clenched her jaw and brought her focus back to reality, the chatter around her giving her else to think of.

"So what did all of you think of the party? It was amazing, right?"

"Hell yeah, you definitely aced it this year. Compared to last year at least."

"Last year was a little dull, I know, but what could I do with my parents at my back. I can't cancel the tradition just like that."

"You did good, but this year was just better in my opinion."

"Agreeed!"

"Ino, you weren't even there last year." Tenten said, her brow furrowing slightly.

"All the more reason why my opinion counts, I have nothing bad to say." She replied with a wink.

"I like the way she's thinking, why don't you all think like that?"

"Because some of us aren't blonde."

"Oooh, you're bringing up the blonde jokes again, ha-ha. _Hilarious_." Naruto grumbled, clearly taking offense at the blonde comment. Tenten just laughed at his misery.

"Oh come on, don't be such a baby."

"Speaking of babies, why wasn't Kiba at the party?" Ino inquired. She was still irked by Kiba commenting on her and Shikamaru's relationship - that was strictly platonic (for now), and most likely it would be some time before she would let it go.

"He made a last-minute ditch. Something about his parents." Naruto waved his hand as he took a sip from his coffee, a satisfied sigh escaping from his lips.

"His parents again, huh. What was it this time?" Shikamaru asked, having taken interest in the conversation. He sat leaned against the chair across from Tenten, who was on same side as Sakura but at the left end of the table, next to Hinata who was seated at the very edge of the long table.

"I think it was about his cousins… One of them is getting married, and he has to help them plan it."

"Aren't wedding planners meant to do that?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, but their family is special, it has to be personal and all that." Naruto replied. His eyes then shifted over to the quiet pinkette sitting next to him, and he silently nudged her.

"You alright there, Saks? You're kinda staring into space." It was then that Sakura blinked, and slowly drug her eyes to meet Naruto's worried gaze.

"Huh?" Her reply just spoke of how intellectually smart she was.

Which wasn't that much at the moment.

Naruto chuckled, and shook his head.

"You seem to have a habit of spacing out, Saks. What, is your world better than ours? Inform me." He joked, his lips curving into a smirk. Sakura however, felt her cheeks redden, and she knew she was blushing.

"It's not, really. I can't help that my gaze gets stuck on everything."

There was silence for a few seconds, before laughter erupted from both Ino, Tenten and Naruto.

"What!?" The pinkette huffed, clearly missing out on the inside joke.

"You were staring at Sasuke, Saks. Is he in your fancy?" Naruto waggled his eyebrows at her. Her reaction to his words was _immediate_.

The tips of her ears turned red as her face blossomed, and her eyes widened indignantly.

"N-no! I was just staring into space!" The trio just laughed again, and Naruto leaned over, patting her lightly on the head. She swatted his hand away, huffing angrily.

"We're just joking with you, Saks, calm down. It's just coincidence that Teme was sitting across from you, I'm sure if Shikamaru had been sitting there you would've stared at him too."

"Definitely damn coincidence…" Sakura muttered under her breath as she sent a glare towards the blonde sitting beside her. She felt utterly embarrassed now. She didn't want to be perceived as some… _fan-girl_ of Sasuke's. It was actually to the contrary.

The curiosity of how Sasuke reacted to the whole _joke-thing_ Naruto pulled, had her eyes slowly shift over to him, and she was met with him already looking at her. His expression was completely stoic, not a trace of anything on his face, and Sakura was tempted to arch her eyebrow to question him about his stony facial expression. But she then thought better of it, and looked down into her cup instead.

She had had enough embarrassment for today to watch how Sasuke would make fun of her too for having _accidentally_ stared at him.

' _It was just coincidence…'_

Not to mention their interaction in the kitchen the previous hour…

' _What was that about…?'_

The start of the week came quickly, and Sakura groaned to herself as she trekked through the hallway to get to her morning class. She was _definitely_ not up for Biology class this early in the morning. It was Monday for heaven's sake. _Monday!_

The worst day of the week!

The pinkette walked over the threshold that signified the start of one boring lesson. She took her usual spot at the window, sliding off her backpack and hanging it off the chair. She glanced around the classroom, watching as people shuffled in and took their own seats. Some even moved their tables to join with the rest of their group. She shifted her gaze to the front instead, opting to watch the clock tick until the teacher walks in to start the lesson.

She was scribbling down important notes from the droning teacher standing in the front with his powerpoint, but then suddenly a white folded piece of paper landed on her bench. She flicked her gaze to the direction it came from, but none of the students reacted to her scrutinizing.

Curiosity getting the better of her, the pinkette picked up the paper and slowly unfolded it. Her jaw clenched upon reading the content.

 _So you're the lame-o that's weaselling her way into Sasuke's group of friends. I had expected a more… pretty girl, but I guess the standards were even a little too high for you to reach. How sad. But don't worry, I know how to help you. How about you weasel your way_ _ **back**_ _out from their group and join the invisibles instead, they seem to be more…_ _ **your type**_ _._

 _Cheers._

She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat, constricting her airways. She inwardly knew the day would come that someone would voice their opinion of her suddenly joining in with Sasuke's group… Someone _always_ did, but she didn't expect that it would feel this… _hurtful…_

The words cut into her like newly sharpened knives, aiming to maim.

She exhaled a quivering breath, before crumpling the paper into a small ball and shoving it into her jeans pocket. Her shiny orbs stared just a second longer onto the table surface, but then she lifted them to once again focus on the lecture, her hand automatically resuming its scribbling.

She ignored the quiet laughs sounding from the back of the classroom.

Lunch came slowly to the pinkette. She should've felt relieved when it finally came, but in fact, she just felt dreadful.

Dreadful at having to sit with the group in the Cafeteria, with everyone else around them to openly see how she was _'weaselling'_ her way into the tight knitted group of Sasuke's.

She momentarily mulled over the idea of just grabbing her lunch and go outside, but before she could even set the plan in motion, Ino grabbed her arm and pulled her along to the serving area. Sakura forced a small smile towards Ino, wanting to project to her that yes, everything is fine, and no, nothing in particular has happened.

Even though that was the complete opposite of what had actually happened. She shifted her gaze to see what today's food was. It was lasagne, surprisingly enough. What was even _more_ surprising though, was that lasagne was actually one of Ino's favourite dishes. As much as everyone believed her to be a salad-girl, Ino could devour messy food if she wanted to. Often she opted not to though, saying that she had a certain image to hold up.

Being popular and following the trend just seemed tedious and energy draining in the pinkette's opinion, despite the benefits.

The two of them shuffled over towards the table they usually sat at, and Sakura took her usual spot, her tray landing with dull thud when she set it down.

She just quietly sat there, eating her food, and not wanting to participate in the others' conversations.

She was thinking over the note that some anonymous student had slipped to her during morning class.

 _How about you weasel your way_ _ **back**_ _out from their group and join the invisibles instead, they seem to be more…_ _ **your type**_ _._

She moved her gaze to look over at said invisibles' table. They were sitting hunched at one of the corner tables, the one furthest away from the _'popular'_ table.

The one _she_ was sitting at.

' _Maybe I should go over there instead…'_

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Ino calling her name.

"Hey, _Sakura!_ You know the volleyball draft papers for the teams are up after school today? We should totally check the tabloids ASAP after last class ends!"

Sakura looked up to meet Ino's joyful blue gaze, and she forced another smile onto her lips.

"Yeah, we should to that." She replied, and then returned to digging her fork into her lasagne before shoving a bite into her mouth so she wouldn't have to say anything else. Ino furrowed her brows and looked quizzically at her, but the pinkette ignored it and went on with shovelling another bite into her mouth.

Lunch passed, and Sakura lumbered away from the group after murmuring a goodbye, heading for her locker to grab her books for next lesson. But she wasn't walking alone, as Ino came up beside her.

"Sakura, what's going on with you? You've been distant all day." She knew she had been distant, she knew she had been quiet, and she knew Ino was suspecting something, but even so, she opted for replying with a simple "I'm fine, don't worry."

She hoped her best friend would take the bait, but inwardly she knew it was too much to hope for.

Ino, having had enough of her quiet and weird behaviour, halted momentarily before speeding up and standing on front of the pinkette, blocking her in her path.

"Nu-uh, you're not giving me that crap. Tell me what's wrong." She said sternly, her hardened blue orbs staring relentlessly at her. Feeling insecure and just wanting to get rid of Ino's on-coming interrogation, she huffed, irritated.

"I'm _fine,_ Ino. Just drop it, okay."

"No. I'm not just going to _drop_ it, you're going to tell me what's up." Ino refused to take no for an answer, and Sakura then felt her resolve _snap._

Her watery gaze snapped up to meet her friend's. She saw the shock wash over her face, before she was drawn into a tight embrace.

"Oh hun, what _happened?_ " Sakura wound her arms around her, and held onto her tightly. She sought the comfort that was given to her, _craved it_ , even.

"M-morning class…" She mumbled into Ino's chest. One of her hands momentarily let go of Ino to dig out the piece of paper that was the cause of her breakdown, and she shakily handed it to the blonde. She read the note over her shoulder, holding the crumpled piece of paper between her dainty fingers as her eyes swept across its surface, taking in the scribbled ink written on it.

"Oh _hell_ no. No one does this to you and gets away with it. Who sent this shitty note?" Ino pulled away from her to grip the pinkette's shoulders, holding onto her steadily as baby blue eyes scanned her best friend's broken expression.

"I don't know… I-it came from the back row in class, I think…" Sakura murmured, her voice cracking. Ino only let out a sigh and pulled the girl to her again.

"We are going to find out who did this, okay? I promise, hun." Sakura just nodded into her chest again, not having the energy or the voice to reply verbally.

Despite all the good things that were happening in her life, she never seemingly managed to catch a break from the bad things.

Befriending Tenten and then meeting her group of friends, it was one of the best things that happened after the trauma… with her mother being taken away from her, leaving her to deal with the world's responsibilities much earlier than what a child her age should have.

The growing relationship that she has to Naruto – who's slowly becoming the older brother she's always wanted, was the second best thing on the very short list of good things.

Being roped into their activities was the third, and the last thing on the list - even though she more often than not _seriously_ doubted the legitimacy of their schemes. Some were just one peg away from crazy.

But to each and every happy thing, there was a bad thing…

The downsides.

Upon joining Tenten's group of friends, she was met with wary glances and suspicion. She knew that if she wanted to really become one of them, she has to prove that she's worthy of their trust.

Which she has no idea on how to do other than just be herself and hope time will help her.

It wasn't the most soundproof plan, what else did she have? They saw her as some kind of intruding object, like a wood chip stuck under their skin. With that kind of first impression, of course it would only be more challenging…

Secondly, her relationship to Naruto was something she deeply cherished, but along with friendship, came responsibility. If she wanted the relationship to flourish and develop, she would have to open herself up to him… She would have to tell him about the traumatic event she went through a few years back, and how her other parent nothing but vanished, leaving her to her godmother to take care of her until she could finally enter college.

As for the third?

Well, she was accident-prone, always carrying bad luck with her. She might very well be the ones that would end up getting them and their entire group in trouble… And it would then only make it more or less impossible for her to gain their trust.

Which would lead to her, Ino and Hinata splintering off and drift away from them, all because she messed it up.

Her life had become so weirdly twisted ever since they appeared.

She still had her doubts about them, and they weren't exactly _few,_ but maybe, just _maybe_ , they would be worth the effort - Be worth to actually accept as friends. But to let them in _all the way_?

Her stomach churned at the thought.

Later that day, Sakura, along with her friends, stood at the front of the P.E. doors, looking for their names on the handball tabloid.

Merely seconds later an excited shriek sounded from the blonde, and Ino pulled the other three into a group-hug. Sakura, taken by surprise, let out a yelp upon being crushed against three bodies at once.

" _We made it_ , girls! Every single one of us made the team!" Her blonde best friend squealed, as she was completely overcome by joy. Sakura actually managed a smile, despite that she wasn't in the best of moods, as her day had gone to shit real fast. At least this was the one positive thing about this Monday.

They made the team.

 _All_ of them.

She felt a little giddy, and her smile became a little wider.

However, their moment of giddiness was soon disrupted when a group of three girls shoved them to the side.

Immediately irked, Ino furiously spun on her heel and glared at the three who had not-so-kindly pushed their way to the tabloids hanging on the door, her icy blue eyes narrowed.

"Mind where you're stepping!" Ino growled, her tone snarky and irritated. The girl that stood in the front of the three-man squad (or maybe it's three-girl squad? Three-girl _team? The trio? Triplets?),_ smiled a wicked smile upon hearing Ino's remark. Her hair, brown with tints of purple, was neatly placed in a high ponytail, only two small ringlets hanging loose, framing her rather round-shaped face.

"Oh I'm _sorry_! I didn't see you guys, it's almost like you're all just… _air_." The unknown girl chirped, her eyes blinking in feigned innocence. The other two remaining girls, standing diagonally behind their 'leader', snickered, and their eyes gleamed at the fight that most likely was about to take place.

If Ino's tense form was anything to go by, that is. Sakura just worriedly flickered her gaze between the two, unsure of what she should do.

Upon further scrutiny, she actually recognized the three girls...

They had been sitting behind her, in that same class she got the awful note.

' _Maybe…?'_

"Hey, _back off,_ you hoes! _Nobody_ is allowed to sass us, _especially_ not you three!" Tenten remarked, her pointer finger held at the three girls gathered opposite her.

"Oh, it's just _you_ , the little _charity case_ of Neji's. Tell me, have you found yourself a nice little spot on the street yet?" The brown-and purple coloured girl asked, her voice laced with venom that hid behind the cheery tone which she spoke with. Tenten's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before they then turned into slits. Her hands clenched, forming fists, and the skin slowly turned white from the withheld tension.

"At least I don't work the _closest_ _corner_ for money." Tenten hissed in reply, her eyes alight with anger. Sakura figured that whatever it was the girl had said, had been something personal. Tenten wouldn't act this brashly otherwise…

But then the question is, why did the girl's words spur such a violent action from Tenten?

' _Charity case? Neji?'_ The pinkette wanted to figure out what exactly she had meant with those words, but she quickly pushed the train of thought away.

She didn't have the right to pry, it wasn't her business. She wouldn't meddle in it, for she believed that if Tenten wanted her to know, she would tell her.

But she was still curious about it, however she would let it be.

Instead, she opted for standing at the side-lines, watching silently as the verbal tennis match continued.

"Oh, _that's_ original, coming from the dirt poor girl that has a mother who-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Came a voice full of confidence, but also full of malice. Storming up the stairs, a furious Neji strode up to them, his facial expression pinched in anger.

He probably heard what the girl had been about to say, and he was _clearly_ not happy with it.

"N-nothing Neji-sama, we just wanted to check if we made the team." Came the brunette's shaky reply. She wasn't so tough now that one of the guys from Tenten's group was here…

"Now that you have, leave. You have no further business here." Neji stonily said, his voice non-caring, despite that he was bringing the girls to near tears, their eyes glassy.

It served them right in Sakura's opinion, as whatever she had been about to say, was probably nothing nice.

' _You don't go around insulting other people's mothers like that…'_ She silently rebuked to the girl who rushed down the stairs, her two companions quickly following after her.

"Are you alright, Tenten?" Neji quietly asked, his hand resting lightly on the brunette's shoulder. She murmured an "I'm okay", and Neji squeezed her shoulder to reassure that he was there.

Ino however, was still worked up, and she was glaring in the direction the trio had headed.

"Those bitchy sleaze-bags better watch their backs or else they will have me to deal with." She huffed, her arms crossed in front of her as her hip was cocked to the side.

Sakura could only smile.

It was so typical of Ino to stand up for those she cared deeply for. She knew this first-hand, as her friendship with Ino had started through her standing up for her against her bullies.

She had then, after confronting and telling the bullies to wander off, said that maybe she should try stand up for herself one day – if only to show that it isn't okay to mess with her just for fun.

She still wasn't where she wanted to be, to be able to stand tall and butt heads with those that brought crap into her life, the note was an obvious example of how she failed doing so… But she was much better off now than what she had been before. Before, she hadn't even let Ino know about her struggles, but later on she learned that it made things easier to let people in – to let them know that everything wasn't always alright.

That didn't mean she did it with everyone, she had scars for being too naïve, and had learnt the hard way that you had to choose carefully of those you decide to confide in... But nevertheless, she was definitely a lot braver today than what she had been years ago.

* * *

 **Author's Note! IMPORTANT.**

Don't **_ever_** give in to peer pressure if it means any harm, guys. I'm being serious here. If you're with a couple of friends that you **_know_** you can _**trust**_ , and they ask you to just take a sip, (or do **_anything_** really), then it could be alright. But that's only if you yourself are okay with it. If you aren't, then tell them. Don't let them peer pressure you just because they want you to do something – if you're not comfortable with doing it, then simply _**don't do it**._

You got that, peeps?

Good.

Secondly, when I first started to write this, I didn't know that high school differed compared to the Swedish school system. But it does. High school in the U.S. is a four year period, while it's a three year period in Sweden. So technically, Sakura and them are 14 if they're freshmen, which is a little too young in my opinion for the things they participate in within this story. So I'm going to go back and edit a few details, mainly changing high school to college. Simply because it works better with the general plot that I have worked out.

I'm sorry if that confused you guys earlier, it's a mistake on my part!

As for their ages, they're all 20. Why? Because since I wrote that Tenten is a sophomore, it means she has already completed one year in college, along with her group of friends. With this in mind, they went directly to college at the age of 19, while Ino, Hinata and Sakura joined when they're turning 20, placing them in the year under Tenten and her group. Does that make sense?


End file.
